Rise of Shadows
by TheBlueTurbo
Summary: After the death of his trainer, a lone Growlithe must ensure the security of a rare a dangerous artifact, one that, in the wrong hands, could cause terrible things to happen.
1. Snagem's return

Gonzap slept. His body was slumped in his swivel chair and his feet were up on his wooden desk, which was falling apart. Next to him, his Skarmory (a large bird clad in iron armor) perched on a metal pole hanging from the ceiling. In one corner of the office, a bucket sat, collecting water dropping down from the leaking ceiling. This was not very effective since another leak had appeared in another part of the room causing a puddle to make anyone who came in to the office go sliding back out again. Not just Gonzap's office, but the entire Snagem base was in desperate need of refurbishment.

A crash erupted from the floor below causing Gonzap to almost fall off his chair. The only thing which saved him was saved him was grabbing hold of Skarmory's perch. The poor bird lost it's balance and fell off, flapping it's wings just before it hit the floor. The crash caused by the iron bird was almost as loud as the one that caused Gonzap to fall in the first place. Gonzap sat straight in his chair as a strange figure ran up the stairs on all fours. As it entered the office, it banged it's fists on it's chest and let out a shout.

"How many times have I told you not to enter like that Gorigan?" Gonzap shouted at the figure. He wore two pairs of goggles; one pair on his eyes and the other hung loosely around his neck. He also had a large wrench attached to his belt. His head was bald and he had large arm muscles bulging out of his shirt, almost ripping the material.

Gorigan looked up at Gonzap with innocent eyes. "Fine," he said, "I guess Gorigan does not have to report the good news."

"Good news!" Gonzap replied "Well spit it out!"

"Apologise to Gorigan first."

Gonzap knew he did not have time to argue. He sighed, "I'm sorry Gorigan."

"Sorry for what?" Gorigan said slyly.

Gonzap almost shouted at Gorigan again. He could see he was pushing it. "I'm sorry for shouting at you Gorigan. Now what is the good news?"

At this point Skarmory flew back up to it's perch still dazed. Once it finally landed it turned to Gorigan and scowled at him. _If I wanted to see a crazy ape, I would have poked a sleeping Slaking,_ it thought.

"That's better." Gorigan continued, "The news is that team Cipher will be bringing in a shipment of new snag machines tomorrow."

"And why is that good?" Gonzap asked, wondering if this was just another waste of time.

"Well, the people who deliver the snag machines will stop for lunch at the outskirt stand. While they're eating, you can Snag 'em." Gorigan sniggered at the joke he had just made.

"Yes, that could work, but how do we know that no one will be guarding the machines?"

"Well no one would want to be out in the desert heat, particularly while wearing the heavy, Cipher peon outfits."

"Good point. You may leave now Gorigan." Gonzap gestured towards the door.

"Say thank you."

Gonzap sighed, "Thank you Gorigan."

Gorigan strode out of the door smiling a faint smile. _This is all too easy,_ he thought as he descended the rickety wooden stairs.

Gonzap left his office a few minutes later with his Skarmory trailing behind him. They entered a room which was more dilapidated than Gonzap's office (if that was possible). Inside, most of the Snagem grunts (all were bald) stood around a small, round table. Four grunts sat on chairs around the table holding cards in their hands. Poké dollars sat in a pile in the middle of the table.

One of the grunts that sat by the table looked like he was more powerful than the others. Next to him, a Gloom stood looking at his cards. He sniggered and put down an ace, two, three, four and five of diamonds. He reached out and grabbed the pile of poké dollars. The other three around the table groaned. Some of the other members clapped or cheered. Wakin was having a good game.

Gonzap coughed and everyone turned to face him. "Now that I have your attention," he started, "I would like to inform you that tomorrow we will be going on a raid." All of the grunts clapped and cheered. Gonzap stood there and smiled a smile he had not smiled for a long time. He was going to steal something again.


	2. The Oasis

The desert was harsh. Growlithe was exhausted, hungry and dehydrated. The red dog-like pokemon with black stripes and a beige mane had been walking across the desert since he had entered the region of Orre. This was still nothing compared to what he had already been through. Despite his resistance to heat, he was starting to feel too hot.

He thought back to the events of the last two weeks. _Just two weeks ago,_ he thought, _I was with my trainer, my mother, my home._ Growlithe shuddered as he thought of the events that had taken place. He thought of the gunshot piercing his trainer's good heart. His mother, how she had shielded him from the deranged man in the strange white outfit. His mother's last words: 'Find the Catalyst before they do.'

"I will find it," Growlithe said softly to himself, wiping a tear from his eye. He had survived by jumping out of a window. He didn't remember anything else as he passed out before hitting the ground. His next memory was of waking up surrounded by pokemon he had not met before. They had been trying to take down something called 'Cipher' and had asked him for his help. He had agreed because he had nowhere else to go and the pokemon had been so friendly to him.

For a time, Growlithe had traveled with some of them but, they had all had to go separate ways leaving him to rendezvous with someone in a place called Agate Village. Supposedly it was a beautiful place with many plants and trees. He could not imagine such a place existing in Orre.

He had noticed that very few pokemon lived in the deserts of Orre. He saw the odd, funnel-shaped, Trapinch trap here and there, though he did not dare to look over the edge to see if it was occupied. More common were Skarmorys hoping to scavenge some dead meat, although they did not attempt to attack Growlithe as they recognised him as a fire-type. Even more common than Skarmorys were the carcasses of dead pokemon that had attempted to cross the desert. This had not made him feel safe in any way.

There were many steep sand dunes to climb in the desert, but what was worse than the sand dunes was the horizon line. Every time he caught a glimpse of it, Growlithe hoped to see something good, however, all he ever saw was more sand. The only reason Growlithe had survived this long was the small, Miltank skin water canteen tied around his neck. He had been very conservative with the water, yet it was still running out. He had been told about water sources in the desert, but he did not know how common they were and he had not seen any so far.

The sun was beginning to set when Growlithe managed to see something new. As he reached the top of another steep sand dune, he noticed some buildings towards the horizon. _There must be water there,_ Growlithe thought. He gained some new found strength and sprinted towards the buildings. He remembered that he had been told to avoid human settlements, however, he was only going to be in the city long enough to find some water, then he would leave promptly.

As he neared the city, Growlithe realised that there was a stream of water outside the walls. _Great,_ he thought,_ I won't even have to enter the city_. Only about half of the sun was visible behind the city when he arrived. He did not bother to look at anything other than the water and dived straight in. Because of this, he did not hear the footsteps.

A young boy approached the swimming Growlithe. He wore an orange tee-shirt, blue shorts and a blue baseball cap. He reached into a rucksack he carried on his back and pulled out a strange round device which was red on the top, white on the bottom and had a big button in the middle. The boy chucked it at the Growlithe as he emerged from the stream.

Growlithe felt the device bump into his head. The device then opened and sucked Growlithe in. He suddenly felt all the aches and pains go away. No longer hungry.

SHAKE!

"Hmm... What was that," Growlithe thought. "Just as I was getting comfy."

SHAKE!

"Again... This feels almost familiar."

SHAKE!

"Wait a minute," he thought, "this is a pokeball!" At that moment, Growlithe broke from the calming sensation and burst out of the pokeball.

The boy frowned. "Hey, you're not meant to escape the pokeball." He pulled out another pokeball and pressed a button on it. A light-blue turtle with a red shell burst out in a beam of red light. "Squirtle, weaken the Growlithe with your water gun!" The boy commanded. The Squirtle sprayed a jet of water at Growlithe.

Growlithe dodged the jet, but knew he did not have enough strength to fight. He summoned the last of his strength and ran straight into the city. The boy watched as he ran away. "The chase is on," he said licking his lips. The he and the Squirtle sprinted after Growlithe.


	3. Battle in Phenac Colosseum

"And so, thanks to Justy's work, Phenac Colosseum will re-open next month." Marcia gave a smile when she said this. The sort of smile that people who watched the news recognised her for. At this the camera man shut off the camera.

"Okay, I'm going to head back to Pyrite now," the camera man said, "are you coming Marcia?"

"No," she replied, "I think I'm going to stay here for a bit longer. I'll make my own way back to Pyrite."

The camera man turned to leave. "Just be careful, you know what the streets of Pyrite are like at night."

"I'll be fine," she tapped her belt which had three poke balls attached, "I have my pokemon to protect me from thugs."

"Fine, but don't come running to me when Team Cipher take them off you." He walked out of Phenac Colosseum, climbed on to a motor bike and rode out of the city. "You sound like my mother," Marcia thought as he disappeared out of sight.

Marcia looked around the empty colosseum. Waterfalls trickled down from the sides of the arena, in between the stands, landing in pools which lined the outside of the arena. In the center, a mosaic pattern of a pokeball was imprinted on the ground. The stands were made out of a smooth, light grey stone. It wasn't that long ago that she was here recording a battle between a trainer and a Cipher admin. She had helped to reveal Team Cipher's uprising. Now she was stuck recording boring news about colosseums re-opening. "Doesn't Orre have enough colosseums," she thought.

She looked up at the pink sky where the sun was setting. She thought of her father, Duking, once head of Pyrite city, now travelling the world. She wanted so much to go and join him but, she knew her pokemon were not strong enough to protect her on long journeys. Maybe if she could beat all of the colosseums she would be strong enough. She had tried this once before however, she got knocked out in the first round. She lost a lot of confidence from this.

Her thoughts however got interrupted when a something red and cream coloured with black stripes came running through the colosseum followed by a blue turtle and a boy. Growlithe reached the other side of the arena only to find there was nowhere else to go. He clawed at the stone attempting to find a way to climb into the stands but, he couldn't find any way before the boy and the turtle reached him. "Finally, it's cornered," the boy said darkly, "Squirtle, give it one more water gun to weaken it enough for capture. Make sure it's painful." The Squirtle charged up it's attack.

Marcia was shocked for two reasons. The first one was seeing a wild pokemon in the city, particularly a Growlithe, which are rare in Orre. The second one was the brutality of the kid towards the clearly already tired and weakened pokemon. Acting entirely on impulse, Marcia dived down the stands and ran towards the kid. "Hey, what the heck do you think you are doing?" she shouted.

"What does it look like lady?" the boy asked rhetorically, "I'm catching this Growlithe for my team. What does it matter to you, it's not like it belongs to you."

"Well um... actually it does," she lied.

"Then, why was it down by the stream at the entrance of the city far away from you."

"Uh..." she was not quite sure what to say, "it was tired after a battle I had earlier and so I let it go to the stream to refresh itself."

"I think I would be a better trainer than you for that Growlithe," the boy said in a childish and boastful way, "let's battle for ownership of it." He brandished a pokeball.

"Why? He already belongs to me."

"Seriously lady, it's obvious you're lying. Liars shouldn't be allowed to have pokemon. I bet you couldn't even beat one round of the Pyrite colosseum."

Marcia was angered by this statement even though it was true. "Fine, let's battle. Two on two, double battle."

The boy agreed. "Okay then, go Bulbasaur!" He pressed the button on the pokeball he had been brandishing and, in a beam of red light, a turquoise, four-legged creature with a green bulb on it's back appeared next to the Squirtle. Both of them took poses to try and intimidate whatever foe was about to be sent out, even though they looked more cute than anything else.

Marcia chuckled at the 'intimidating' looks that the opposing pokemon gave her. "This will be too easy, go Tropius and Lombre!" She pressed the buttons on two of the three pokeball she had with her. Out of one, a creature which looked like a small, long-necked dinosaur with four leafy wings and yellow fruit which looked like bananas growing from it's neck, materialised. It was brown although, in places it had green leaves covering it's body. From the other one, a green frog with a lily pad on it's head and red lips emerged.

"Tropius, use gust on Bulbasaur and Lombre, use absorb on Squirtle!" Marcia called to her pokemon. The Tropius whipped up it's leafy wings and launched a strong gust of wind at Bulbasaur. Lombre started glowing green and energy started being transferred from Squirtle to Lombre.

"Bulbasaur, dodge that gust and fire a razor leaf at Lombre!" the boy commanded. His Bulbasaur side stepped out of the way of the oncoming gust and released a group of leaves from it's bulb which were fired at Lombre. The leaves slammed into Lombre's face, creating a few cuts in one cheek. Lombre lost concentration and the energy around it dissipated. "Now Squirtle, use skull bash on Tropius!" The Squirtle charged at Tropius, head lowered, intent on giving the Tropius a powerful head butt.

"Tropius, use fly to avoid the attack." Tropius obeyed, spreading it's wings out in preparation to fly out of the way.

"Forget the skull bash Squirtle, grab hold of Tropius's leg." Squirtle raised it's head and jumped up to grab the Tropius. It reached the Tropius just as it was taking off and wrapped it's small arms around the bulky leg. Tropius shook it's body to try and force the Squirtle off it however, the Squirtle held tight. It now started climbing up onto the Tropius's back, carefully so that it didn't lose hold of the dinosaur. Once it was on Tropius's back, it took hold of the beast's neck. "Now Squirtle, bite!" Squirtle bit into Tropius who started writhing in pain.

"Tropius, knock the Squirtle off your back using head butt." Tropius turned it's head and thrust it towards the biting turtle. Squirtle didn't see the head in time. All it had time to do was open it's mouth in shock, releasing the skin it was biting, as it was knocked to the ground far below. It landed right in front of Lombre who was charging towards Bulbasaur with a zen-head butt. Squirtle took the attack and was flung across the colosseum. It passed out before it landed.

Marcia looked up at Tropius, remembering it was still in the air and called out, "Tropius, finish your fly!" She didn't say any more than that but, her Tropius understood. It did a couple of spins in the air than dived straight at Bulbasaur.

"Quickly Bulbasaur, dodge!" the boy cried but, Bulbasaur was too distracted by it's friend as it landed, knocked out, on the colosseum floor. It turned to look at it's trainer and made a face which suggested it didn't hear him. At that moment, Tropius collided with Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur collapsed letting out a cry of pain. The boy returned his two injured pokemon to their pokeballs.

"Fine, you can have the Growlithe," the boy mumbled, "I didn't want it anyway." He ran off cursing under his breath. "I'd been so close to getting a fire type," he thought.

Marcia turned to Growlithe who was cowering in a corner. "It's okay," she said softly, "that mean kid is gone. You're in safe hands now."

"Thanks, I didn't want to be captured." Marcia jumped back. She hadn't been expecting a response. Under normal circumstances, a trainer would have to spend a lot of time training to gain a psychic connection with a pokemon. Marcia had only just gained a psychic connection with her own pokemon. "Don't look so shocked," he said, "you saved me from a horrible trainer."

"Uh, why are you in this city?" Marcia asked. "I mean, Growlithe are incredibly rare in Orre."

"Well, I travelled here from Johto," Growlithe answered, "I was sent here to find an ancient artifact, of great power."

"From Johto! You've come a long way, no wonder you look so tired." Marcia furrowed her brow. "Artifact of great power huh, I don't know of any such thing."

"I was told to rendezvous with a pokemon in Agate village. Have you heard of a criminal organisation known as team Cipher?"

"Team Cipher, they're causing trouble all over Orre. I even rescued Lombre from one of their admins." On hearing his name, Lombre, who had been casually chatting with Tropius, hopped over.

Growlithe turned to the two and said simply, "Hello."

"Hey," Lombre said cheerfully, striding towards Growlithe.

"Hi," Tropius said shyly. She then hid her head behind Lombre.

"Lombre, do you mind if you would tell me a bit about team Cipher?" Growlithe asked.

"Team Cipher," Lombre said, disgusted at the sound of the name, "they are horrible people who steal pokemon from trainers, then take them and turn them into shadow pokemon." Lombre shivered.

"Shadow pokemon?" Growlithe questioned.

"Shadow pokemon," Lombre continued, "are pokemon which have undergone a painful process involving closing the door to their heart. They are ruthless and, if commanded, would not stop attacking until the enemy was dead. I have fought alongside shadow pokemon many times. Luckily, I was rescued before I could have been turned into a shadow pokemon." He smiled at Marcia. "From what I have heard, there are ways of converting a shadow pokemon back to it's normal form. Something called purification. However, I do not know anything else about it."

Growlithe had a slightly worried expression on his face. "Do you know what team Cipher's goals are?"

"I do believe," Lombre answered, "they seek world domination."

"Seriously?" Growlithe looked at Lombre to make sure he wasn't joking. He wasn't. "What is this, one of those animé shows my old trainer used to watch?"

"Wait, what," Marcia started. "You had a trainer!"

"Yeah..." Growlithe said sadly, "he was killed by some crazy guy in a white outfit. Him and all of the rest of the team. I managed to escape, with injuries. Then I met a group of pokemon trying to stop Cipher. They told me about this artifact so, I agreed to help them. That's what led me to Orre." He decided that it was not necessary to mention that this artifact was described as a catalyst.

"Crazy guy in a white outfit..." Marcia said looking puzzled. "Well, I could take you to Agate Village, if you don't mind stopping off at Pyrite Town first. I need to pay a visit to my home first."

"That would be great, thank you," Growlithe agreed happily. "I've met Tropius and Lombre but, who's the third member of your team," asked Growlithe ask looking at the third pokeball.

"This," Marcia said pressing the button on her third pokeball, "is Bagon." As she said this, a small blue creature, standing on two legs, with two short arms and a head like solid rock appeared.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," it said holding out an arm to Growlithe. Growlithe put out a paw and shook it.

"I didn't use her in the battle because she has a tendency to severely injure weak pokemon," Marcia said glaring at Bagon. Bagon gave an innocent smile. Marcia returned all three of her pokemon back to their respective pokeballs. "Now, we should probably get you to a pokemon center." She scooped the Growlithe up into her arms and walk out of the colosseum, towards the pokemon center.

At the top of the colosseum seating, hidden by the shadows of the roof, two strangely dressed men watched as Marcia left the colosseum. They had walked in during the battle but, hadn't moved since they had sat down.

One, had blonde hair, hidden by a hat which looked like a pair of mickey mouse ears with a white ring around each ear. He also wore a dark blue jumper with a sleeveless, orange jacket on top, which looked suspiciously like a life jacket, and combat trousers. A pair of sun glasses, with red lenses in them, sat on his face.

The other man had blonde hair, which was a similar length to the first man's, with spikes dyed red at the top. He wore a dark blue sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. His sunglasses had blue lenses instead of red.

The one with the hat turned to the other one and asked, "Wasn't that the field reporter from ONBS battling some kid?"

"Indeed it was," the other replied, "and she still has the boss's Lombre. We need to get that back. He was furious when it was stolen off him."

"Yeah, and did you see that Tropius fly? The boss has always needed something big to fly on so he can carry his speakers."

"That Bagon looked good, according to one of the Cipher peons I once spoke to, it evolves into something so powerful, it's described as 'uber'."

"But that Growlithe would be the prized catch. They are incredibly rare in Orre. It would be the perfect head of the boss's party."

"We should go and grab them now. Let's go!" The guy with the sleeveless shirt stood up.

The other man pulled on his shirt to get him to sit down. "Patience Folly, our mission was to find out where the boss's Lombre was and we succeeded. Remember, we don't have snag machines yet. We should head back to the boss before he gets impatient."

"Yeah," the man, whose name was Folly, agreed, "I don't want to see him in another rage, Trudly. That was bad enough once."

"Indeed." The two men rose from their seats and walked towards the exit, where their van, which had anti-gravity technology, was waiting.


	4. The interview

It was early morning in Celadon city but, the sun was already beginning to rise. The streets were empty bar the occasional homeless person, lying asleep in the gutter. Their lack of money was caused by the large building in the city center. The building was coloured with many shades of orange and red. At the top of the front wall, a purple arch rested. In the arch, there was a big red 'R'. Under that was the set of blue, automatic doors which so many people entered rich and exited poor. This was the 'Rocket game corner'.

The only concious man on the streets of Celadon city was heading for that building. His name was Tabitha. He had, at one stage been an admin of team Magma but, after Groudon and Kyogre's fight was broken up in Sootopolis by Rayquaza, Maxie, head of team Magma, went crazy and team Magma disbanded. Tabitha had spent many months searching for a new job. With no luck, eventually he discovered that team Rocket was hiring.

He wore very plain clothes which were almost as dirty as the homeless people. His black hair, once short, now touched his shoulders and upon his face was a scruffy beard. Despite this, he walked as if he was still in team Magma. He kept his back straight and stood at full height. He ignored the sign on the game corner doors reading,"Sorry, we are closed," and walked straight through them.

Inside, Tabitha found that the building was only one room, or so he thought. The floor was several shades of yellow, with a zigzag pattern. On the left side of the room, lines of slot machines stood. On the right, many roulette boards were stationed, some still with chips on them. On that same side, a bar, with stools surrounding it, was placed against the wall. There were team Rocket members dotted around the place. Some were moving crates around (most likely containing prize pokemon), others were pushing drunks out of the door.

Tabitha walked up to a burly looking grunt carrying a large crate with air holes in it and asked, "Excuse me, where can I find the interviews for joining team rocket?"

The man put down the crate and stood at his full height, making Tabitha look comparitively small. "You!" he said, "You want to join team Rocket?" He laughed, "Little bit scrawny aren't you. Go speak to the girl at the desk."

"Thank you," Tabitha replied, looking at the desk at the other end of the room. The grunt both grunted and laughed at Tabitha, as he picked up the crate, which created a rather interesting (and disgusting) noise.

As he reached the desk, Tabitha saw a young, black haired woman sat on a swivel chair with her legs up on the desk. She was using a nail file on her finger nails. "Hey baby," he said, "I used to be an admin back when I was in team Magma."

"Team Magma!" she laughed, "You mean the team that broke up just because they couldn't control a legendary. Oh no," she imitated, "Groudon is too tough for us to control. It must be because we're a rubbish team not because it's a LEGENDARY." Her emphasis on the word 'legendary' was directed at Tabitha, who had actually wanted to keep the team alive.

"Hey!" he started, "It had nothing to do with Groudon, it was actually because our leader went insane!"

She pulled out a cigarrette and stuck it in her mouth. "I've heard that one before," she said, lighting the cigarrette. "Want one?"

"No," he replied, "I'm not into smoking."

"Wimp." She turned to face him directly, blowing smoke in his face. "The name's Elle," she said as he coughed, "I suppose you're here to join team Rocket, considering you come from a team that has broken up." He nodded at this. "Follow me." She walked out from behind the desk and towards the far wall. Tabitha noticed that on her side, she had a gun in a holster. "Oh wait," she said as she reached the far wall. She turned around and walked back towards the desk.

At the desk, she flipped a switch. As she did so, the carpet parted revealing a flight of stairs. "Wouldn't it have been easier just to have had the switch by the stairs," Tabitha remarked.

"Well we used to have it behind that poster," she replied pointing to a poster next to the stairs, advertising the game corner's prizes, "until some kid got nosey, found the switch and beat the boss."

"He doesn't sound so tough."

"Uh, wasn't Rayquaza summoned by a kid."

"Oh, yeah..." Tabitha gave a false laugh. He suddenly realised that all criminal organisations seemed to be broken up by kids. Team Magma, Aqua and Galactic, all in the space of a few months. He also realised that legendary pokemon were pretty much worthless.

"Anyway, I wouldn't say anything like that to the boss," the girl said, braking Tabitha's train of thought, "if you stay on the right side of him, he'll give you rewards. Get on the wrong side however, there will be consequences." At this, they walked down the stairs towards Giovanni's office.

Giovanni's office was on the forth floor below the Rocket Game corner. Everything was neatly organised considering Giovanni was a crime boss. On one side of his desk, a large bookcase stood holding many books, mostly about genetics and different pokemon species. Potted plants were stationed either side of his desk. Giovanni himself was dressed in his typical black suit with a white shirt underneath. He also wore a black bow-tie. His feet rested on the desk while he read a book labled, 'Mew: a guide to the world's least know species.' He chuckled thinking about the time he had Mew in his possession.

Their was a knock on the door and Giovanni's Persian, who was curled up in front of the bookcase, stirred from it's slumber. Giovanni moved his feet off of the desk and closed the book, putting it to one side, for future reading. He clasped his hands together and put them on the desk as he often did. The door opened revealing his secretary and a scruffy man. "Here to join team Rocket are you?" he said. "Come in then and take a seat."

Elle was about to turn about and leave when Giovanni stopped her. "Elle, go and take a portion of our 'earnings' to our affiliates on the other side of the city." Elle nodded and walked out of the room, still smoking.

Giovanni turned back to Tabitha, who had now sat down, "That's the problem with running a criminal organisation, too many people smoke. Anyway, why do you want to join team Rocket?"

"Because team Magma, which I used to belong to, split up," Tabitha answered.

Giovanni laughed out loud. He remembered reading a paper about Maxie going crazy. "So what position did you have in team Magma?" he asked once he stopped laughing.

Tabitha grunted, "I was an admin. In fact I was Maxie's right-hand man."

Giovanni rubbed his chin with his hand. "It takes a lot more to become a team Rocket admin than it does to become a team Magma admin. What skills do you have?"

"I can handle pokemon well," Tabitha started, "I am also able to run fast and fight well hand to hand. Furthermore, I am knowledgeable about pokemon."

"You make a good point." Giovanni looked down at his Persian who jumped up on his lap and curled up. He stroked it. "Let's see your pokemon then."

Tabitha sent out his pokemon. First was Golbat, a blue bat with purple wings and a large mouth. It flew up to the desk so that Giovanni could examine it. He pulled out an oran berry which Golbat immediately gulped down in one bite. "Interesting..." was all Giovanni said.

Next was Camerupt, a red camel with two craters on it's back and blue rings on it's side. It stood with a dopey expression on it's face. "Hmm... it doesn't look intelligent but, it looks strong." It let out a loud cry which made Persian jump off of Giovanni's lap. The cat walked around the desk to investigate the source of the cry.

Finally was Mightyena. A black wolf-like pokemon. It looked down fiercely at Persian. Persian merely shot out it's claws, causing the wolf to take a step back in fear. "Well, it's not the bravest thing ever but, it looks fierce and powerful," the boss said.

"He was my first pokemon," Tabitha said, "I've had him since he was a Poochyena. My sister and I used to train him." His sister. Tabitha hadn't mentioned his sister in years. How she was brutally murdered by that weird grey pokemon. It was then that he noticed the book on Giovanni's desk. The picture on the front looked similar to the pokemon but, not the same. A similar face. "What is that pokemon?" he said pointing to that book.

"Why that is Mew, the rarest pokemon in the world." Giovanni turned from the book back to Tabitha. "Why did you want to know?"

"Because I want to speak to it," Tabitha answered with, what Giovanni noted as, a look of anger in his eyes.

"Good!" Giovanni exclaimed, "Then we have a common goal. I'm accepting you into team Rocket. Err... What was your name?

"Tabitha."

"Okay then Tabitha, go to the changing rooms where, you should be able to find a uniform your size. Someone will show you where it is."

"Thank you, sir." Tabitha walked out of the door.

Persian climbed up on to Giovanni's lap again. "What did you think of that guy, Persian?" Giovanni asked.

"Why should I care, he's just another one of your grunts," the Persian replied.

Giovanni looked down at the cat. "You saw his anger when he saw mew. I believe he may have had an encounter with it or something like it that didn't go well."

"You don't mean-" Persian began.

"Yes, I think he may be an important lead to finding it."

Elle walked down the streets of Celadon keeping a good pace. Although she had forgotten to bring any pokemon, she had a gun hidden in a holster under the long coat she wore. The streets of Celedon were dangerous early in the morning, particularly for an unarmed woman. Despite having the gun, she still felt uneasy because she only brought a few spare bullets.

She turned down a back alley, hoping to avoid trouble on the streets. There was a sudden click behind her followed by the word, "FREEZE!" shouted. Her heart skipped a beat. That wasn't the shout of someone attempting to mug her. It was far worse than that. She turned to see a man with short black hair, wearing a brown suit and tie with a lighter brown coat on top. On his shoulder was a monferno staring at Elle with a fierce expression on it's face. The man held a gun which was pointed towards the rocket grunt. "You are under arrest for your connection with team Rocket."

Elle reached for the gun at her side however, the monferno noticed what she was doing. It breathed an ember from it's mouth which struck her hand causing the flesh to burn. She could not move her hand, since it was in to much pain so it fell limp at her side. The man laughed and walked up to her.

The first thing he did was remove the gun from her holster and chucked it away where Elle could not reach it. Monferno then spat another ember, this time on the gun, which melted until it was unusable. Next, the man pulled out some hand cuffs from his coat pocket and chained Elle's hands together (which was painful with her burn). Finally he phoned for a police car which arrived promptly and took Elle away.

The man was left with his monferno in the alley. He put his own gun away. "One up for the international police," he said smugly. "No one steals money off Looker and then kicks him out on to the street."

The monferno turned to look at Looker. "Well to be fair you were the one wasting money gambling," she said, "and it was their closing time."

"Hey, I wanted to get a Porygon," he whined, "it's not my fault the slots were rigged. I did well at the Veilstone game corner. That proves I have the skills to win."

Monferno face palmed. "Do you even know how a slot machine works? It takes luck to win, not skill."

"Well in any case, team Rocket is our new target," he annouced. "I'm not sure what their up to, but it can't be good. I think I will need to use my skills of disguise to pretend to be a team Rocket grunt." And with that they set off to Celadon game corner.


	5. Cipher's meeting

The Outskirt Stand stood in the middle of the vast desert of Orre. The old, light red train's paint had rusted in the desert winds. An old man sat outside, his back against a wheel of the train, playing a harmonica. How the train got there was a mystery however, no one bothered to question it because the owner made the best breakfasts in Orre.

Outside the stand, a cipher peon, dressed in a strange blue suit that made him look like a deformed power ranger, was slumped against a large white lorry. The heat against his suit was causing him to sweat like mad. "What I wouldn't give to be inside, eating lunch with the others instead of burning in the heat," he groaned. "Just because I'm the lowest rank." He continued babbling to himself. No one would be able to make out what he said.

After a while he stopped and looked out into the haze of heat. He could almost swear he could see a group of brown blurs moving towards him. "No," he told himself, "I'm just dillusional from the heat."

Had he been in the right frame of mind, he would have seen almost the entirety of team Snag'em (which wasn't that many) walking towards him. Each one was armed with a gun and a knife. They had been expecting to have to battle an entire force. It was a surprise to them all to see one lone cipher peon, sitting there, clearly not bothered by their presence in the slightest.

One of the burly Snagem grunts walked over to him and punched him hard in the face, knocking him to the floor. "Whoa, what the heck is going on," he said as he passed out on the ground, blood trickling out of his nose.

Gonzap's Skarmory flew up to the unconscious peon, poked around in his pockets, gave him a kick and flew back to Gonzap, a key in his mouth. He placed the key in Gonzap's hand who walked over to the back of the lorry. Gonzap found a key hole which fit the key perfectly. He put it in, twisted it and pulled the door open. Inside, there was a pile of snag machines however, it was what was behind them that intrigued Gonzap. There was a black file, labled 'Ein file'.

"Okay then, grab the snag machines," Gonzap ordered as he picked up the file. He decided to have a brief read since it would take a little while to unload the snag machines. He opened up the file, skipping through pages of what he described as 'technical jargen'. While flicking through the pages, he came across one that intrigued him. Above the words "From the desk of Professor Ein," was a block of text about Cipher's plans.

Gonzap read in his head: "The machine is capable of creating the ultimate human, the only thing able to control our newest and most fierce shadow pokemon. The human itself will gain abilities that even legendary pokemon will be jealous of. Once the machine is finished, Cipher will be unstoppable."

"Currently, there are a few flaws in the machine. First of all, it severely shortens the life-span of the user. As well as this, sometimes, by closing the door to their heart, the user suffers a heart attack and dies instantly."

"The latter of the problems can be solved the same way as we did with the pokemon shadow process. The former however requires an ancient item called the God catalyst."

Gonzap flicked through the file frantically, scanning for those words. He eventually found what he had been looking for. "The God catalyst is supposed to contain a portion of Arceus' powers. From what we know, it is a purple coloured orb that glows a dark aura." Gonzap gasped at the description. "Gorigan seems to know more about it's location. I think that is why he is posing as a Snagem grunt."

Gonzap stared at the page. Skarmory was on his shoulder, mouth agape. "It... was... a... set up," Gonzap managed to stutter. "I can't believe we were fooled by that idiot."

"But how did he find your secret hiding place?" Skarmory asked.

"The asshole was always snooping around. I bet he's been spying on me the entire time."

"Good Arceus! And all this time I thought he was a Slaking brained fool. Turns out he was an evil genius."

"Or getting orders from someone else," Gonzap suggested.

Skarmory was about to reply but, was interrupted as Wakin walked up to Gonzap. "We have loaded up the machines," Wakin informed, "shall we return to base?"

"Post haste!" Gonzap replied with anger in his voice, "And if you see that snake Gorigan, kill him!"

"With pleasure." Wakin licked his lips. He had always hated Gorigan. He didn't care to know why Gonzap wanted him dead.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gorigan was in Gonzap's office, searching for the secret hiding place. He was walking around the office, scraping his knuckles against the wall. Soon he found the place where there was no wall, just wallpaper covering a hole in the wall. In an ordinary office, this may have been noticed but, this was Gonzap's office.

Gorigan reached under the flap of wallpaper and pulled out the dark purple sphere. He looked at it with big, staring eyes. It seemed to stare into his soul. A chill went down Gorigan's spine. He slipped the orb into his pocket and slipped out of the room. "You should never have called Gorigan stupid," he muttered to himself. He walked out onto a balcony and climbed up onto the roof.

Once there, he pulled out his phone, dialled a number and spoke to the person on the other end. Moments later, a helicopter landed on the roof with the Cipher logo and Gorigan escaped, the God catalyst with him.

* * *

A group of Cipher executives sat around a long table staring at the mysterious orb. The moment Gorigan made the call, an emergency meeting had been called. Amongst the people sat around the table were; Ein, Cipher's head scientist. He wore sunglasses that were small height wise but, wide, his black hair stuck up at the front, the end dangling in front of his face, and he wore a long lab coat that almost reached his feet.

Next to him was a girl, slightly younger than him, wearing a white and light blue blouse, black tights and long light blue boots. Lovrina, as she was known, had pink hair that was tied up into two bunches and hung down to her waist and in her hair she had goggles. She was Ein's second in command (how she was allowed into the lab with hair like that was beyond everyone). Ein and Lovrina had some sort of secret office romance going on (which may have explained it). They kept it secret because Cipher's heads frowned upon office romances. They often said it would come back to bite you in the ass.

On Lovrina's right was Dakim, a man who claimed that the champion of Unova stole his look. He wore a white suit covering his whole body and legs, which his muscles bulged out of, a purple loin cloth (which was pretty much useless) and a pokeball necklase. His hair was red and spikey.

Amongst the others was a guy, with a big ego, called Snattle who wore a similar white suit to Dakim but also wore a fancy grey and purple jacket. Upon his head sat a grey and purple hat with a long tail. As well as him there were various, high ranking, peons, Gorigan, who looked excited to take credit for his find and Cipher's mysterious advisers, wearing long, black cloaks which covered them from head to toe. They each sat next to one of the end seats where Cipher's two heads sat.

It was clearly obvious that Cipher had a very big problem when it came to fasion. This could be traced back to various past admins, in particular, a man called Miror B. However, it would be easier just to blame the man who had just stood up. Evice. He was a short, plump, old man who, despite his clown like appearance, commanded a lot of respect from Cipher. "So, we finally have it," he spoke in a slow, almost astonished, tone.

"Gorigan was the one who found it, sir," Gorigan shouted, interrupting Evice. He looked smug and some of the peons gasped in disbelief.

"Well," Evice said turning to Gorigan, "What do you want? A medal?" Gorigan's smile shrank and he sat back down. Then turning to Ein he continued, "What does this so called 'God catalyst' do?"

"The God catalyst," Ein began, "supposedly uses the soul of an ancient being to create the ultimate being. In theory, we could use it could give someone God like powers. This prevents the problem of the shortened life span of the shadow human machine plus, it would make the user even stornger."

Evice licked his lips, "How long will it take you to get this process set up?"

"Hmm..." Ein thought for a moment, "I suppose it could take a couple of weeks, altogether. Which means I will need some time working with Lovrina in my lab." Some of the peons glanced at each other, knowing what they would actually be doing.

"Well go right ahead and begin as soon as you can," Evice requested, handing the God catalyst to Ein.

"Hold on!" said a voice at the end of the table. Standing up now was the new head of Cipher replacing Greevil. She was a woman with dark hair and a stern face. She wore a black suit and earned the title of the most sensible dressed in Cipher. Her name was Selena. "How can we know that this process is completely safe for the user?"

"Well you do make a good point," Ein said thoughtfully, "I could do some tests with the catalyst first if you bring me test subjects."

"WHAT!" Evice cried out, "and give random people Godly powers! There will be no tests. You will complete the machine and use it on me as soon as it is finish."

"On you!" Selena exclaimed, "but..." she stopped when her advisor tapped her on the shoulder.

She bent over and the advisor whispered, "If something was to go wrong with the process, we would prefer it if it affected him and not you."

Selena stood up straight again. "Okay, fine." She turned to a short peon fiddling with a pen. and asked, "Do we have word from Venus?"

The peon looked up, suddenly realising he was the center of attention. He dropped the pen on the table and it rolled off. "Err... yes we do," he stuttered, "she contacted us an hour ago to say they weren't too far from Mt Battle." He looked around nervously and then, noticing he was not the center of attention, ducked down to grab the pen. He was nervous because he was in the meeting instead of his sister, Venus. He was concerned for her safety.

While under the table he heard Selena's muffled voice speak. "Good, with Venus and a large squad of peons with her, no-one will no what hit Mt Battle. That would get rid of a lot of tough trainers." The short peon felt safety in this statement. He emerged from the table, feeling relief as the topic turned to plans for a new motto.

However, there was still a feeling of unease going through his mind which was not calmed by Gorigan's whispering in his ear, "I hear there's loads of lava in the crater of Mt Battle and no fences to prevent you from falling into it."


	6. Daily life in Pyrite

The sun was high in the sky as Marcia, along with Growlithe, arrived in Pyrite town. Growlithe had found the ride quite bumpy for a machine which hovered above the ground. They had spent the night in the Phenac city pokemon center, which had brought memories of Growlithe's last trainer into his mind.

As they got closer towards Pyrite town, Growlithe noticed the change in terrain from sand to brown rock. Soon the town came into view. The town itself looked less orderly than Phenac but, it was still clear that the buildings were centred around a white, spherical dome which, even from a distance, looked dilapidated. This, Growlithe could tell, was the colosseum.

They passed several houses which were dotted around the outskirts of the town before they entered the main town. The roads were paved with metal slabs which were covered with scratches which showed that they had suffered many a pokemon battle. The majority of the buildings were collapsing and had graffiti on them. Marcia had said the place was much better than it used to be, but Growlithe had to wonder how bad it had been beforehand.

Marcia stopped in front of a slightly nicer looking building. It was not on the verge of collapse and there was less graffiti upon it. The building was constructed from a darker stone then that of Phenac city and the sides were supported by iron girders. There was a sign on the side of the building which read; 'Mayor Silva's office. Please do not vandalise.' A man stood across the street, leaning against a building, smoking a cigarette and watching Marcia and Growlithe intently.

Inside the building, Growlithe felt a lot safer. The walls were painted a dark orange and covered in posters advertising various places and events across Orre. One caught Growlithe's eye. It was a petition for an official league to be set up in Orre. It didn't have many signatures on it though. Marcia walked up to the desk that stood opposite the front door where a man in a grey t-shirt and blue shorts with spiky, silver hair sat, his feet up on the desk. His eyes were glued to a small television on the desk, so he didn't notice Marcia walk into the room.

Marcia walked up to the TV, reached over it and pressed the on/off switch. The man immediately reacted. "Hey, Ash was just about to catch a Caterpie!" he raged.

"You really shouldn't be watching that crappy children's cartoon," Marcia retorted, "particularly when you have plenty of duties as a mayor such as, cleaning this town of crime."

"First of all," he answered, "it's an animé, not a children's cartoon, therefore it is perfectly suitable for people my age." Marcia rolled her eyes. "Secondly, cleaning this town of crime is not my job, that's Chief Sherles and his police force's job."

"However," Marcia said, starting to get annoyed, "Hiring police officers is your job. Considering that the police force still consists of the same two people it has had since before that weird guy took down Cipher at Realgam tower, I assume you haven't done that job."

"I...err...well," he began.

"Silva!" Marcia shouted, "Stop thinking of excuses! Just what exactly have you done since Duking first put you in charge of Pyrite? Practically nothing! Just sat around and watched cartoons, or as you like to call them 'animé'!"

"Somebody's on their p-" Silva began.

"Don't you even dare finish that sentence!" Marcia yelled, "That has nothing to do with why I am yelling at you!"

"Sorry," Silva said sarcasticly, "Did you come all this way just to have a rage at me?"

Marcia calmed right down. "No actually, I came here to pick up the last of my stuff. I was gonna leave it here, but you've been complaining so much about it taking up room on the bookshelves, recently." She walked over to a bookshelf. "How can my books be taking up space when you don't even read?"

"Well," he began, "I need somewhere to keep all of my DVDs." He pointed to a pile on the floor. "And these ones can't go on the shelf until you move your books."

Marcia sighed. She walked over and pulled the last books off of the shelves. She noticed that the majority of DVDs were related to some sort of animé. "Oh yeah," Marcia said, suddenly remembering what Growlithe said, "have you ever heard of an 'artifact of great power'?"

"Nope," he answered, "I know nothing about 'artifacts of great power.' Also, I spent most of my history classes asleep." He looked other the side of his desk. "Furthermore, where did you get the Growlithe? Did you trade that annoying Lombre who freaks out whenever I play music?"

"He only freaks out because you have a terrible taste in music," she answered, "and I befriended the Growlithe in Phenac after saving him from a weird, sadistic kid."

"Hey," Silva growled, "don't insult Miror b's fabulous music. Just because your Lombre doesn't have a good taste in music."

"Stop trying to get into an argument with me," Marcia said.

"I'm not trying to get into an argument with you," he answered defensively, but by this time, Marcia had walked out with several books and Growlithe trailing behind her.

* * *

When Marcia got outside, she saw a kid attempting to steal her motorbike, unsuccessfully. "HEY!" Marcia shouted, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious lady," the kid retorted, "I'm trying to steal this bike." At first, Marcia had just assumed it was just a typical Pyrite kid, but after hearing the voice, she realised that the kid was none other than the kid she had battled the day before in Phenac.

"Oh great." Marcia said, "you again."

The kid turned around and looked at her. "Well, well," he said, "it's my lucky day, I wanted to test my new pokemon out and look who I found. The annoying news reader woman. How about we battle again?"

"It would be my pleasure," Marcia replied.

The kid got off of the bike and reached down for a pokeball on his belt. Throwing it, he yelled, "Nincada, rip the opponent to shreds!"

Marcia laughed as the small, white bug, with small claws, burst out of it's pokeball and landed on the ground. "This will be too easy," she said reaching down for a pokeball, "Tropius..."

"Not so fast!" the kid interrupted, "if that Growlithe really belongs to you, you have to use it."

Marcia groaned, "Fine then, Growlithe, teach this kid a lesson." She prayed that Growlithe knew some fire type moves. And how to battle. Growlithe walked forward, in front of Marcia and stared at the little insect. Marcia looked down at Growlithe and said, "Let's finish this quickly, it's a bug type, so use a fire type move.

Marcia had expected Growlithe to use a weak fire move, not the one he actually used. A great flame shot from Growlithe's mouth. Taking the form of a wave, it shot towards the Nincada at a great speed. The kid put his arm in front of his face in an attempt to shield himself from the heat. "Hey! Not so close," he complained. A crowd had gathered, seeing a battle was happening. They cheered Growlithe.

As the flames dissipated, Marcia expected to see a Nincada, with a burnt shell, lying in the dirt. Instead, there was a small mound of dirt. In the center of the mound was a hole. Marcia gasped. Some of the crowd cheered the Nincada now. The kid looked at her with a sly smile. "You forgot that Nincada is also a ground type. Nincada!" he shouted down the hole, "use dig!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath Growlithe opened up and the nincada slammed into his underside. Growlithe let out a cry of pain and stepped back. The kid now gave nincada a new order; "use fury swipes!" Nincada bared it's claws and lunged at Growlithe.

Meanwhile, Marcia was using her PDA (pokemon digital assistant) to look up the various moves that Growlithe could know. She found one and shouted the command to Growlithe. "Fire fang!" Growlithe's mouth lit up with fire, as Nincada attempted to continuously scratch him. He attempted to bite the Nincada, however, it was too small and nimble for him to succeed. Nincada dived back down the hole again and emerged in another area of dirt. Growlithe ran towards it, but as he reached it, it dived back down the hole and burst out somewhere else. The kid laughed at this display. The crowd started to play a game of guessing where the Nincada would pop up next. Growlithe was starting to feel tired.

Marcia could see no way of winning at first. However, she soon realised what she needed to do. As Growlithe reached Nincada again, Marcia watched it dive back into the hole and shouted, "Growlithe, use heat wave down the hole!" Growlithe unleashed the wave of fire straight into the hole.

The kid looked horrified. "Nincada!" he shrieked, "quickly, surface!" But, Nincada was burrowing under a metal path at the time. The flames shot through the holes, bursting through the various open holes in the ground. The crowd watched in awe. From one of the flames, a rather burnt looking Nincada was shot out and landed on the ground next to the kid. Bulbasaur and Squirtle, who had come out of their pokeballs to watch the fight gasped. The kid just stared in shock. He eventually returned the poor Nincada and ran off crying towards the pokemon center. The crowd clapped and cheered Marcia and Growlithe.

* * *

Once the crowd had cleared, Marcia tended to Growlithe's wounds with the use of potions. They were only minor, but Marcia had insisted. Then, they took the motorbike across Pyrite to the 'nicer' part of town (not that it was much better). The litter was kept to the sides and the graffiti was at a bare minimum. They arrived at a large apartment building. Going inside, they walked up the stairs until they reached the top floor at which point, Marcia took some keys out of her pocket, inserted one into the door and opened it.

Marcia's apartment was fairly small, consisting of four rooms; a lounge containing a bookcase, a TV, a sofa and a coffee table, a kitchen, which was a cramped square with various appliances around the edges, a very small bathroom, with a shower and a toilet, and finally, a bedroom with little more than a bed and a cupboard. "Welcome to my humble abode," Marcia said to Growlithe as she switched on the radio, "you'd think a news reporter would have a nicer place than this, but no. Make yourself comfortable though."

"I think it's nice," Growlithe said as he jumped up on to the sofa and curled up, "it's cosy." He yawned. The person on the radio droned on about how the weather would be sunny all over Orre. Marcia started to sort the books she had onto the bookcase in alphabetical order of author.

"It's the final of the Realgam championship," the reporter on the radio announced, "the two challengers have been through a lot to get to where they are today." Marcia sighed, thinking about how she failed.

Growlithe must have dozed off because the next thing he remembered was Marcia tapping him saying, "I'm just grabbing a bite to eat and then we'll go to Agate." Marcia disappeared into the kitchen. She reappeared a few minutes later with a sandwich for herself and some pokeblocks for Growlithe.

As Growlithe tucked into his pokeblocks, he noticed the person on the radio was commentating on the championship match. "And Braviary took that psychic attack without flinching!" the commentator babbled. "Now he's diving straight towards Alakazam! But, Alakazam teleported out of the way! Braviary crashed into the ground!"

Suddenly, a different voice sounded from the radio. "We interrupt this battle to bring breaking news that Mount Battle is under attack from Cipher! Cipher's intentions are unknown, but many peons have been attacking any trainer who attempts to stop them. We will bring you more news as we receive it. Now back to your scheduled viewing.

Marcia looked at Growlithe. "We have to help them," she exclaimed, "or Cipher may claim many innocent lives!" Growlithe was concerned with Marcia's rashness, but he just got up and said nothing as they ran out the door.

* * *

Gonzap was annoyed. When they returned to the base, they had found no trace of Gorigan, other than the absence of what, Gonzap now knew, was the God catalyst. Now, team Snagem were gathered around a radio, listening to the Realgam championships (since any TV's they had in their base always ended up broken). Most of the members had money on one of the challengers and were cheering on particular pokemon.

There was a large cheer as a Braviary hurt itself by crashing into the ground. Then suddenly, the fighting was interrupted. The various Snagem grunts groaned because, they did not want to miss the action. "We interrupt this battle to bring breaking news that Mount Battle is under attack from Cipher! Cipher's intentions are unknown, but many peons have been attacking any trainer who attempts to stop them. We will bring you more news as we receive it. Now back to your scheduled viewing." There was another cheer from the grunts and one shouted, "about time!"

However, they would never get to hear the rest of the battle live because, Gonzap stepped forward and switched off the radio. Once again, the grunts groaned, but this time Gonzap stopped them. "Listen up!" he said with his booming voice, "Cipher stole something important of mine, today. Not only do I plan to steal it back, I also plan to get revenge. We are going to Mount Battle to teach Cipher a lesson!"

"Aww," the grunts said in unison, "But what about the Realgam final?" one grunt asked.

"Too bad," Gonzap growled, "you'll just have to listen to the highlights later." They groaned once more, but then went to get prepared.

Once they had all left the room. Gonzap grabbed his phone so he could make a call. He listened to the phone as it rang. It went to the answer phone. "Hey," Gonzap said, "Wes, it's me, Gonzap. I don't know where you are, but you're needed in Orre. Cipher are up to something and I think the repercussions could be disastrous. Get to Orre as soon as you can." He hung up.


	7. A rash attack

It was mid-afternoon by the time Marcia and Growlithe arrived at Mount Battle. Growlithe could feel the heat, even though Mount Battle was situated in an area of grassy plains instead of a desert. Ahead loomed a huge volcano. At it's summit, a structure could be seen, poking out of the crater. Set in the rock at the bottom of the volcano, in between two rocky outcroppings, was a building, small in comparison to the volcano, which was the entrance into the colosseum. In front of the building, a large crowd had gathered of many trainers, planning to take on Cipher.

As Marcia got closer, she heard the shouts of anger from the crowd. In front of them was a blockade of Cipher peons. One trainer ran towards the barrier in an attempt to get past, however he stopped quickly as one of the peons pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. "I wouldn't come any closer if I were you," the peon laughed, "you might just end up dead."

Marcia groaned. "There's no way we're getting through that alive," she said to Growlithe, "perhaps we should try climbing Mount Battle."

Growlithe was about to reply, stating that climbing Mount Battle would be foolhardy and had as much chance of death as charging at the peons, however, he was interrupted by a large uproar behind him. They turned to see a gathering of bald men in brown uniforms lead by a muscular man with a jagged moustache and a Skarmory on his shoulder. "Everybody make way for team Snagem!" the man said.

The crowd took one look at the newcomers, noticed that they were armed as heavily as the peons were and parted, looking slightly fearful. The Snagem grunts strolled up to the blockade, hands by their weapons. "Well, well, well," one peon, who was dressed in black instead of the typical white peon outfit (a sign of a higher rank), said, "if it isn't Gonzap and team 'sag-em'." The peon laughed. "Come to be annihilated by the might that is team Cipher?"

"Not at all," Gonzap retorted, "in fact, we will be the ones doing the annihilating." Both of them grabbed their pistols, but Gonzap was faster and managed to shoot before the peon even brought the gun all the way up. She collapsed in a heap, blood oozing from her skull.

There was a lot of confusion as Cipher and Snagem fired at each other. Some trainers in the crowd screamed with fear of being hit by shots while others just watched in horror as Cipher peons and Snagem grunts fell. Marcia saw an opportunity to get past the two raging factions. She looked down at the Growlithe and said something (which Growlithe could not hear over the noise) pointing at the side of the blockade, which had been abandoned since the Snagem grunts were at the center of the it. Marcia ran towards it. Growlithe sighed as he followed. He started to wonder if he would survive long enough to meet the pokemon he was meant to rendezvous with.

* * *

Inside the Mount Battle entrance, Marcia found herself in a large square room with a mostly white and pale pink colour scheme. At the opposite end of the hallway, the entry desk stood. It had a pair of large doors behind it, leading into the volcano. In front of the desk, a woman with a suit on knelt in front of an unconscious Abra. Marcia ran towards her shouting, "are you okay?"

The woman turned to her. "Don't come any closer," she warned, "he's in here somewhere." Marcia stopped running and started to look around, confused.

As if on cue, a Cipher peon in blue dropped down from the ceiling, landing right in front of Marcia, holding a sharp knife. "Hey baby," he said in an aroused voice, "perhaps you and I could have a bit of fun, if you know what I mean."

"Not if you were the last man alive," Marcia retorted with a disgusted look on her face.

The peon gave a creepy smile. "I wasn't asking for your permission." He moved the knife towards her. She stepped back a couple of paces. Growlithe, unsure quite what to make of all this, shot an ember towards the man's knife. He screeched in pain, as the knife heated up and recoiled his hand, dropping the knife. Marcia ducked down and picked it up. She pointed the knife towards the cursing peon.

The peon looked in surprise. He could see that Marcia now had the upper hand in combat, so he turned to a different strategy. "I doubt your pokemon could beat mine," he grunted. How about we have a pokemon battle? If you win, I'll let you past to get beaten by some other peon, but if I win, you will have to give in to my demands."

Growlithe looked at Marcia uneasily. She could quite easily just force the peon out of the way with the knife. Instead, she said; "Of course. Who am I to turn down a battle?" Growlithe face-palmed (or face-pawed).

"Then let's get started," the peon roared. "Graveler, you have a type advantage here, GO!" He sent out Graveler, a huge rock with arms and legs. It thumped it's arms against it's round body, causing a loud noise.

"I don't think that Graveler has much of a type advantage," Marcia said, pulling a pokeball from her belt. "Go, Lombre!" Lombre appeared in a flash of light, looking up at the much bigger pokemon.

"Graveler, crush that frog with a rollout!" the peon commanded. Graveler curled up into a ball and rolled straight towards Lombre. Lombre chuckled. He waited until the Graveler was right next to him, then he jumped up, landed on Graveler and jumped again. While in the air, Lombre twisted so he was facing Graveler and spat a water pulse at it.

Graveler felt the water sink through the cracks in it's rock shell. It pulled out it's arms and sunk them into the floor to stop itself. It shivered as the water trickled through it's body. It turned to see Lombre dashing towards it with a zen headbutt. It raised an arm and brought it down diagonally, sweeping Lombre into the air.

Lombre landed on his feet, getting carpet burn on them as he skidded to a halt. He then prepared a mega drain. His body started to glow with a green aura which reached out in an attempt to engulf Graveler. However, Graveler was not going to allow that. It grabbed two spiky rocks from it's back, pulled them off and tossed them at Lombre. The rocks regrew quickly on Graveler's back so that it could reuse them again.

Seeing the oncoming projectiles, Lombre chose to break his concentration. The green aura dissipated inches from Graveler, who gave a sigh of relief. Lombre jumped to avoid the rocks. When he landed, he grabbed the rocks and threw them back towards Graveler. They harmlessly bounced off the boulder's skin.

Lombre began to charge towards Graveler with another zen headbutt. This time, Graveler punched the ground creating an earthquake attack. A large crevice appeared in the floor where Graveler punched it. The crevice began to extend in length, moving, like a snake, at an alarming speed towards Lombre who narrowly avoided it by jumping. Graveler removed it's fist from the ground causing the crevice to stop increasing in size.

Graveler charged towards Lombre and shot it's arms out towards him. Lombre put his own arms out, grabbing hold of Graveler's arms. However, Graveler started pushing Lombre with all it's might. Lombre looked over his shoulder and gasped, seeing that the crevice was right behind him and that Graveler was pushing him into it. The crevice surrounded him on three sides, Graveler taking up the fourth. Lombre attempted to push back, but to no avail.

Lombre had one idea. Just as he was about to reach the edge, he let go of Graveler's arms and did a backflip over the crevice. The momentum carried Graveler straight into the it. It let out a roar as it plummeted. Lombre looked over into the crevice which suddenly sealed itself up leaving nothing more than the tear in the carpet as proof of it's existence.

Brushing his hands together, Lombre turned towards the peon with a cheeky grin on his face. The peon looked very angry. Suddenly, the floor started to shake. "What now?" Lombre asked. Then the floor beneath him opened up as Graveler burst out, looking very injured from being crushed. It grabbed Lombre with both it's arms.

The hole in the floor sealed itself, just as the crevice did, just as Graveler touched the floor. It looked at the Lombre and said in a gruff, but vaguely feminine voice, "You have forced me to take extreme measures." The Graveler started to shake very violently. Lombre looked around with alarm for some way of escape. He fired a water pulse at Graveler's face, but it did not react at all. The peon just stood laughing.

Graveler exploded. Lombre was propelled into the wall on the other side of the room. He collapsed on the floor. Marcia cried out, "Lombre!" and ran towards him. Lombre got up shakily, badly burnt and stumbled towards her. She returned him to the pokeball.

Meanwhile, the peon just looked at the husk of his Graveler, bits of rock missing in various places and said in a sinister tone, "You failed to knock him out. You sicken me." He returned Graveler.

Turning to Marcia, he said, "Okay, so you got lucky. Let's see how you do against my next pokemon. Mandibuzz! Fight!" A vulture like pokemon materialised in the air. It had mostly brown feathers with a cream ruff around it's neck. It's head and neck displayed naked, pink skin. On it's head, a tuft of feathers grew with a bone interwoven into it. Around it's lower body, a ring of spikes stuck out.

Marcia sent out her next pokemon, Bagon. "For once I'm not concerned if you seriously injure the opponent," Marcia said to the small dragon. "Use double edge!" Bagon charged towards the bird at great speed. She jumped into the air in an attempt to collide with it. Mandibuzz rolled out of the way and Bagon collided with a wall. Mandibuzz laughed.

But Bagon was not out by any stretch. She got up and shrugged off her collision with the wall as if she had just walked into a pillow. The Mandibuzz glared at Bagon. Then, she dived towards Bagon demonstrating her 'brave bird' attack. Bagon waited until Mandibuzz was about to hit her and jumped out of the way. Mandibuzz collided with the floor with such a force that she tore the carpet and found her head trapped under it.

Bagon seized this opportunity to attack the Mandibuzz. She jumped up onto her back and unleashed a wave of headbutts. Mandibuzz flinched with pain every time Bagon slammed her head into her, however, Bagon showed no signs of tiring. Mandibuzz shook her body violently causing Bagon to lose grip on her feathers and fall off.

Mandibuzz managed, with difficulty, to remove her head from the carpet. She beat her wings and flew up into the air. She laughed and looked down at the ground. "Oh poor little Bagon," she said with mock sympathy, "don't you wish you'd evolved so you could reach me. Instead, you're rooted to the ground like a little Bellsprout."

Bagon just stared at her and retorted, "I don't need to be able to fly to be able to hit you" (although in her head she did really want to be able to fly). She opened her small mouth as wide as possible. The inside of her mouth glowed with an orange light. Mandibuzz squawked as she saw what was about to happen, but she did not have time to move out of the way. The dragonbreath shot out from Bagon at an incredible speed. It engulfed Mandibuzz, burning her feathers.

As the dragonbreath receded, Mandibuzz fell to the ground. Burnt feathers fluttered around the room and Mandibuzz looked almost like a roast turkey, only with some feathers. Bagon gave a little cheeky smile to Marcia who, despite saying she did not mind the enemy pokemon getting badly injured, frowned. Bagon did not mind though since she was used to it. She turned back to Mandibuzz who groaned, "So I was beaten by a little runt. Well, I shall train to ensure that next time I will definitely be able to get my revenge."

"I look forward to it," Bagon chuckled "Hopefully by then, I'll be able fly so we can have a proper battle, where you don't get all the advantages." The two battlers returned their pokemon.

"Grr," the peon growled, "okay, so maybe you are more than just a bit lucky. However, my last pokemon will be capable of sweeping your entire team. I don't think you'll even be able to hit it." He sent out his final pokemon, Girafarig, a yellow and black giraffe like pokemon with a strange, ball shaped tail with a face on it.

Marcia looked at the Girafarig. To her, it didn't look that strong, however, she knew better than to underestimate foes. Particularly after her fail at Pyrite colosseum. "You seem awfully confident," she said, "Why would that be?"

"Oh," he replied, "you expect me to tell me before you've even chosen a pokemon. You're naive. Don't worry though, you'll find out soon enough."

"Well," Marcia said, "it was worth a try." She looked at Growlithe. "Growlithe, that thing is psychic, you have bite and Bagon is (probably) tired, so you're up." Growlithe stepped forward and looked up at the large giraffe. It's body must have been twice his height (not counting neck and head).

Growlithe charged towards Girafarig his fangs bared in preparation for a bite attack. The Girafarig sat there with it's eyes shut. If Growlithe had been able to see Girafarig's tail, he would have seen it's eyes glowing blue as it used agility. As Growlithe got closer, Girafarig dodged out of the way. Growlithe kept running towards the Girafarig only for the gap between them to grow.

The peon laughed, seeing that Girafarig was too fast for Growlithe to hit him. "Now, Girafarig," he commanded, "use bounce!" Girafarig stopped moving. Growlithe, seeing this, doubled his pace, baring his fangs. He jumped towards the second head, but before he could reach it, Girafarig bent his legs and jumped high into the air. Sadly, Growlithe's jump had brought him right above Girafarig, so he got smashed out of the way by him, landing on his back on the carpet.

Growlithe righted himself only to notice that the Girafarig was right above him, using his telekinesis to prevent himself from falling. Girafarig started to fall at great speed, straight towards Growlithe, whose mouth was agape. Growlithe barely managed to roll out of the way as the Girafarig collided with the ground, legs buckling.

Girafarig looked around with his two heads, attempting to find out where the Growlithe was. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his second head. The first head turned around finding the Growlithe on his back, teeth clamped over his second head. Girafarig howled in pain, then regained composure. He attempted to use psychic to dislodge the Growlithe from his head, however, said head was required to use psychic moves and was currently suffering from a splitting headache.

Instead, the Girafarig shook itself violently, causing Growlithe to be flung into a wall. He recovered quickly and charged towards Girafarig, only to find himself unable to run...and floating into the air. Girafarig was levitating him with his mind, just as he had done to himself earlier. Realising that any attempt to directly attack him would be futile, Growlithe fired a heatwave towards Girafarig.

Girafarig, only capable of using his psychic powers on one thing at a time, aimed his psychic powers at the heatwave, consequently dropping Growlithe in the process. Growlithe used this oppertunity to charge at Girafarig with a take down. However, Girafarig was not going to let Growlithe hit him that easily. Using his psychic powers, he shot the heatwave straight towards the charging Growlithe. It hit directly and did...

Absolutely nothing due to Growlithe's ability, flash fire. As the ability took effect, Growlithe's body gave off the illusion that it was on fire. Growlithe was now charging significantly faster towards Girafarig who tried to dodge out of the way, but to no avail. The effects of his agility had worn off, making him slower than the fire-charged Growlithe who at that point collided, head first with him.

Girafarig cringed with pain. The peon, seeing that attacking was not doing well decided to switch up his strategy. "Girafarig," he called out, "use agility and run around until that Growlithe is too tired to fight!" Girafarig's second set of eyes started to glow and his body became a yellow and black blur as it sprinted around the room.

Growlithe knew that chasing him would be completely useless, so instead, he stood still and began firing heat waves in the hope that he would get a lucky shot. One well-aimed heat wave collided with the Girafarig as he ran past. However, Girafarig had raised a light screen which caused the heat wave to bounce off it and shoot up into the ceiling.

In an attempt to weaken the light screen, Growlithe continued firing heat waves at Girafarig. As Girafarig ran past his trainer, a heat wave rebounded off his backside...and straight into the peon's face. To say that the peon yelled out in agony would be an understatement. His mask melted and the small amount of his face that was exposed was burnt terribly.

The peon cursed and screamed as he ran out of the building, his face still on fire. The Girafarig briskly walked towards the door. He stopped beside Growlithe. "You should be ashamed of yourself for resorting to cheating like that," Girafarig said, blissfully unaware that it was his light screen that caused the heat wave to hit his trainer, "I shall get my revenge. When I do, you'll be praying to Arceus that I kill you."

"But...but...but-" Growlithe began, but Girafarig was not listening. Instead, he was running out of the door, to catch up with his master.

* * *

Gonzap was pleased with how the battle had gone. All of the cipher peons were dead or were being tied up since they surrendered. Snagem had suffered very few casualties and still had a powerful force, of which they would use to storm Mount Battle. He had planned to cut out the long walk up to the top of the volcano and just fly up to the colosseum in the crater, where the majority of the peons would, undoubtedly, be. He had asked all of his grunts to bring a flying type, but unsurprisingly, some had forgotten.

His grunts gathered around him, waiting for him to give them their next orders. "Now," he began, "we shall make our way up to the top of Mount Battle. Those of you with flying types and levitating pokemon, raise your hand." Just over half of the squad raised their hands. "Not including doduos and dodrios, since they can't fly (despite having the ability to learn fly)." A couple of grunts lowered their hands. "Okay then, those of you without flying pokemon, stay here, guard the prisoners and ensure no back-up arrives."

Those grunts groaned. "As for the rest of you," Gonzap continued, "we shall begin flying up as soon as..." He trailed off as he saw a Cipher peon running from the entrance building to Mount Battle, followed by a Girafarig. Something about his mask did not look right to Gonzap, but he did not think much of Cipher's fashion sense anyway. Gonzap did nothing, but stare at the peon as he ran out into the plains of Orre.

"Sir," one of the grunts said, "do you want us to go after him?"

Gonzap brought himself back to reality, briefly glancing back at the strange pair. "Huh. No. Don't bother. It'd only waste time." He turned his gaze towards the entrance building. "Hmm...Something is going on in there." He turned back to his grunts. "Wait here," he ordered, "I'm going to check on this. I'll call for you if I need any help. Gonzap ran towards the building, Skarmory flying beside him.

Inside the building, Gonzap found a smartly dressed woman, a younger woman and a Growlithe looking down at an unconscious Abra. The younger woman was holding an empty potion bottle and said, "I'm sorry I can't help you, but I'm completely out of potions. Not a drop left."

The other woman turned to her and said, "It's not your fault. If only those Cipher grunts hadn't smashed up the healing machine." She pointed towards a ruined machine behind a desk where a nurse would normally be.

Feeling generous (and suspecting that one of these people chased off the peon therefore, making them allies), Gonzap pulled a selection of various herbs out of his pocket. He used herbs because they are much cheaper than modern medicine. He walked up to the group. The two looked up at him. The younger woman seemed to be looking at him as if she was trying to recall his name. "Here," he said, "this should help." He drop a large looking leaf into the Abra's mouth.

The Abra's body shook and it shot up suddenly, violently puking up. The Abra turned towards Gonzap and scowled (keeping it's eyes closed). Gonzap apologised. "Well, that's the downside of herbs; they're incredibly bitter."

The well dressed woman smiled at him. "Thank you," she said, "you don't know how much you've helped us."

"Well," Gonzap replied, "I was just trying to help anyone who is against Cipher." He turned towards the younger woman. "Your Growlithe looks tired. Why don't you give him an energy root?" He held out a small root towards her.

She graciously accepted it and gave it to Growlithe. Growlithe found the root very bitter and understood why Abra had thrown up. "Sorry to trouble you," the woman said, "but could you spare a couple more? I have two other injured pokemon."

"Why of course," Gonzap replied handing two more energy roots to her, "I have plenty."

"Thank you very much," she said, sending out Lombre, who looked like he could collapse at any moment, and Bagon, who had no more than a couple of bruises and scratches. She handed the two roots to the pokemon. Lombre chewed the root into tiny pieces and then had to force it down his throat to ensure he ate it. On the other hand, Bagon, pretty much, swallowed it whole. She licked her lips.

"Gonzap!" Marcia suddenly exclaimed, "the head of team Snagem. Sorry," she said as she saw the incredulous looks everyone was giving her, "I just remembered where I recognised you from. I'm Marcia, a news reporter for ONBS."

"Ah," Gonzap said thoughtfully, "that explains where you got your knowledge of me from. I assume you're here to report what is going on."

"Do you see any camera equipment?" Marcia asked rhetorically, "I actually decided that I would attempt to take on Cipher."

"That's a hefty goal for one to do by themselves," Gonzap commented, "however, you and I have a common goal. Also, I have my entire team here and they really want to get back at Cipher for what they did to us five years ago."

"What they did to you five years ago?" Marcia questioned. "Shouldn't you be more angry at that guy who blew up your base?"

"Meh," Gonzap replied, "we settled our differences a long time ago..." He stood for a few seconds, staring at the floor, saying nothing. "But anyway, we were going to fly up to the top of Mount Battle. Will you be joining us?"

"Nah," Marcia said, "I'm gonna use Abra to teleport to the top."

The other woman turned to her. "Just so you know," she said, "Abra can only carry one at a time. And since the trip is all the way to the top of Mount Battle, once she gets back, she'll need to sleep for about eighteen hours before the next trip. So you'll have to return your pokemon to their balls."

Marcia stared at her. "Seriously. How do you run Mount Battle?"

"Well," she explained, "we normally have a whole load of Abras, but Cipher 'pokenapped' most of them.

"That's unsurprising," Marcia said, rolling her eyes, "sadly, I don't have a ball for Growlithe."

At that moment, Gonzap returned to the conversation. "If you have a flying type, He could fly up with us."

"It's a good thing I have Tropius then," Marcia said, sending Tropius out. She looked around, attempted to stretch her neck and ended up hitting it on the ceiling. Marcia turned to Growlithe. "You can fly up on Tropius."

Upon hearing this, Bagon-who was nibbling at the carpet-ran over to Marcia and jumped up and down. "Did somebody say fly!" she said mentally to Marcia. "Can I go? I've always wanted to fly!"

"No," Marcia said flatly, "I need as much defence as I can get if I'm going to fight Cipher."

"Aww," Bagon moaned. She changed her expression to give herself puppy-dog eyes. "Pleasepleasepleaseplease-" She continued repeating this.

"Okay fine," Marcia said, caving in, "but you'd better get to the top as quick as you can or I swear I'll-" She stopped herself quickly.

"We'll be fine," Bagon reassured her, "just leave some peons for us to beat up." Tropius did not look as confident. Growlithe did not feel confident either.

Behind Gonzap, Growlithe, Bagon and Tropius walked towards the door as Marcia returned Lombre to his pokeball. As they reached the door, They turned around to see Marcia place her hand on Abra's shoulder, then, without any noise or flashes of light, they were gone.

* * *

An Altaria flew towards Mount Battle. She was meant to be going to Agate village, however, when she heard, in a town she had briefly stopped in, that Cipher was attacking Mount Battle, she knew where her priorities lay.

"'She' would not mind," she thought as she was flying. If she did not try to stop Cipher, they could utilise the volcano to gain full control of Orre. She knew exactly what they could do with a volcano. "I have to stop them. 'She' knows that it is what is most important."

But she still had a long way to go. She could only hope that she would get there in time...


	8. The Battle of Mount Battle

There was an air of unease as Marcia arrived in the Mount Battle colosseum. The seats around the oval ring were completely empty and the overhanging stadium lights were switched off. Marcia found herself standing on one side of a pokeball shape, constructed out of a red, shiny rock, embedded into the ground. All of the markings were made out of the same red brick. Two huge metal doors stood at either end of the oval-shaped arena. Everything was eerily silent. Marcia could have sworn that she could hear the bubbling lava, hundreds of feet below.

Suddenly, a shrill voice rang out from the stadium speakers. "So you're going to try and stop me?" the voice cackled. "What a joke! You may have been able to get past the grunts on the lower floors, but they were weak. The only thing that made them strong were artificial weapons. A true warrior should be strong according to how well they command 'organic weapons' as in, pokemon. Oh, and their beauty." The voice giggled.

"I find it a little bit disappointing that the only thing strong enough to get slaughtered on top of Mount Battle was a young news reporter who lost in the first round of Pyrite colosseum." Marcia clenched her fist at this and growled. "Oh well," the voice continued, "better get on with it. All peons are to deal with the intruder in the colosseum!" She cackled again. So much so that she started coughing. After regaining composure, she said, "Good bye then, little pest." The speakers went silent and Marcia let out a sigh of relief.

Her relief was short lived, since, at that moment, both sets of large metal doors burst open, allowing a flood of peons-and their pokemon-to rush towards her, weapons flailing. Marcia sent out Lombre and drew her knife, but she knew she would not be able to win. She looked around frantically for an escape.

Off to one side of the arena, in the lowest tier of seats, she noticed a 'staff only' door, slightly open. She grabbed Lombre and ran towards it. As she reached the railing, that prevented people from wandering onto the battle pitch, she dropped Lombre over it, then vaulted it herself. They sprinted through the door, closed it and locked it just seconds before waves of peons reached it. They (and their pokemon) began charging at the door.

Marcia found herself in a small metal room with a circular, wooden table and four chairs around it. She grabbed the table and shoved it against the door. Next, she piled each chair on top of the table. Finally, hoping her makeshift blockade would hold, she sprinted through an adjacent door and into a long corridor, Lombre trailing behind her. Had she waited a few seconds longer, she would have heard the crashes against the door stop.

* * *

Growlithe gripped Tropius's leafy hide tightly as they flew at great speeds, alongside Gonzap and Skarmory. Growlithe held his eyes shut, not daring to look down. He had fallen from a great height once and that was enough to last him a lifetime. On the other hand, Bagon was having the time of her life. She yelled, "WEEEE!" at the top of her voice. "I'M FLYING!"

Growlithe stared at her incredulously. "H...How the H...HELL can you b...be so excited about f...flying! It...it's a h...horrific experience!" Then he noticed his eyes were open. He screamed and shut his eyes tightly.

"Well, you see Growlithe," Bagon said, completely unfazed by his reaction. "There are two kinds of pokemon; 'Groundlings' and 'Flyers.' As a 'Groundling', you are mortified by the prospect of flying, therefore, you, normally, stay rooted firmly to the ground. However, Tropius 'n' me are flyers. We were born to fly and fly we shall.

Growlithe contemplated this, then replied, "Where do fish pokemon come into this equation?"

"Well-" Bagon began.

"Yeah," Tropius said, "and ghosts?"

"It was just meant to be an analogy, yeesh," Bagon said angrily. "I was trying to make Growlithe feel better about his fear of flying."

"And another thing," Growlithe said, "I've seen plenty of other pokemon, who don't have the ability to fly, fly on another pokemon and not be scared of it."

"Okay, okay," Bagon replied, "it was a bad analogy, I get it."

"Also," Tropius said, "you, surely, would be classed as a 'groundling' at least until you evolve."

"Just shut up, okay," Bagon retorted.

Tropius sighed. Then she said to Growlithe, "I'm sure the ride would be better if I flew slower, however, we need to fly as fast as we can to catch up to Marcia."

"I understand, I just wish I had a pokeball so we could have teleported," Growlithe said, still keeping his eyes firmly shut.

It did not take them long to reach the Mount Battle colosseum. However, when they did, they found it swarming with angry Cipher peons and their pokemon, with no sign of Marcia. "Good Arceus!" Bagon cursed. "Even with a force as big as we have, this is still going to be a tough fight."

"Bagon...doubting her abilities," Tropius said, I never thought I'd see the day."

"Shut up!" Bagon shouted. "Just because I said that, doesn't mean I don't think we'll win." Tropius rolled her eyes, but since she was facing forward, Bagon did not see.

Growlithe opened his eyes and looked down. He shuddered, seeing they were fairly high above the colosseum, but he put his fears aside and scanned the area thoroughly in an attempt to find Marcia. "I don't see any sign of Marcia or Lombre," Growlithe said solemnly as he finished scanning every inch of the colosseum. "You don't think...maybe..."

"Nah, Marcia may be rash at times, but she's a smart girl," Bagon said confidently. "She would have found a good place to hide, or gone on to find the admin behind the attack on Mount Battle."

"In that case," Tropius said, "shall we begin taking out those foolish peons. If we want to find Marcia, we're going to have to deal with them." She took aim at a group in the centre of the colosseum, used razor leaf to conjure up sharp leaves, then sent them flying towards the peons. Growlithe and Bagon followed suit with flamethrowers and dragonbreaths.

Seeing the three pokemon begin firing upon the peons, Gonzap raised his hand and brought it downwards, in a swift motion, to signify that they should fire as well. Great numbers of air slashes, swifts, hyper beams and various other attacks shot down towards the peons.

Of course, the peons would not just stand by as they got picked off, one by one from the skies. Their pokemon aimed their heads upwards and began firing upon team Snagem. The various Snagem 'flyers' (as Bagon would say) began to dive downwards, towards the colosseum, so as to get a closer aim on the peons. Blasts shot out from both the sky and the colosseum, causing many deaths on both sides.

Tropius swerved to avoid a rather large solar beam. Apparently, someone else was not as lucky since an Unfeazant came tumbling past, unconscious (maybe dead), it's owner close behind it, attempting to flap his arms in comedic fashion. "AND I THOUGHT IT WAS BAD BEFORE!" Growlithe exclaimed as he clung on for dear life, no longer firing his flamethrower. Bagon was holding onto Tropius's neck, still firing dragonbreaths.

As they got nearer, she looked down and said, "Okay, this is close enough for me." She then jumped off Tropius.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Growlithe yelled at Bagon. He shot a paw out in an attempt to catch her, but she fell out of his reach, head first. He turned to Tropius. "We have to save her!"

Tropius just shrugged. "She'll be fine."

"What do you mean, 'she'll be-'" Growlithe began. Then he saw Bagon hit the ground and instantly get up, looking unharmed. "'-fine.'" She began to spray her dragonbreath everywhere.

They were not far behind her and landed nearby. Growlithe ran over to Bagon. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, you fool!"

"Quit complaining," Bagon retorted, "and start fighting before one of those pokemon tears your heart out." She pointed towards a selection of sharp-clawed pokemon heading their way. She fired more dragonbreaths towards them. Most of them collapsed, however, a Sneasel persisted, firing an ice beam which shot straight through the dragonbreath, towards Bagon.

At the last second, Growlithe pushed her out of the way and fired a flamethrower back, melting the ice beam and burning the Sneasel. "You know, I would have been fine." Bagon said, picking herself off the ground.

"Not even a thank you?" Growlithe said as he used take down on a Machoke heading straight towards them.

"Nope," Bagon said with a cheeky smile. Then she head butted a Floatzel that was zooming towards them. After knocking it over, she blasted it in the face with a dragonbreath to make sure it was down.

Tropius used her long neck to her advantage. A peon attempted to climb onto her back and use her to attack the Snagem grunts who were still in the air. However, Tropius had been charging a solar beam. She turned her head around and fired it, blasting the peon off her back, sending them flying away (where they landed, breaking their spine).

Meanwhile, the Snagem grunts were having a wailmer of a time. Despite not being as bad as they used to be, they still enjoyed a good fight, particularly against Cipher. Gonzap laughed as he shot a peon through the chest. They collapsed to the ground, spurting blood everywhere. Skarmory, now covered in blood (not his own), flew by, charging towards a Whimsicott as it attempted to use hurricane to disorient Skarmory and knock him out of skies. Skarmory just shot straight through the hurricane and used drill peck to pepper the Whimsicott with holes. It collapsed on the ground.

Around Gonzap, the rest of his party were fighting; a Shiftry used giga drain to weaken any pokemon that charged towards it and strengthen itself. Once the weakened pokemon reached it, all it had to do was give a smack of it's leafy fan to send the pokemon flying. A Whiscash conjured earthquakes to trip over and shake pokemon and peons alike. A Hairyama swung it's arms around, knocking anyone stupid enough to get near, flying. A Crawdaunt drowned foes by manipulating water that it had stored in it's shell. It would then grab the corpses and crush them with it's shell to ensure they were dead. Gonzap's final pokemon, Electrode, used spark to engulf itself in electricity, then rolled around the battlefield, shocking everything in a near radius. One peon mistook it for a pokeball and picked it up. Big mistake.

Despite all of this, team Snagem were still being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

* * *

Marcia and Lombre had stopped running. It was too hot to run where they were. They were below the colosseum now on a series of metal catwalks, suspended from the bottom of the colosseum over the Mount Battle crater. Marcia could see, a fair way below them, something white that seemed to shake about. This was where they were heading.

Lombre looked over the edge of the catwalk they were standing on and shuddered. "That's a lot of lava," he said, afraid. "I don't think even my most powerful water pulse could effect that in the slightest."

Marcia wiped the sweat off her brow. "I have a feeling that the upcoming battle will be difficult," she said, a concerned look on her face, "particularly if Growlithe, Tropius and Bagon don't get here soon."

"I am concerned that they may not be able to deal with all of those peons," Lombre said, "and that they may not be able to find us if they do."

"They do have team Snagem with them," Marcia said, attempting to give him a convincing smile, "and they are smart. They'll be able to work out where we are." Lombre still did not look convinced.

It did not take them long to get to their destination. The catwalk they were on ended and on the end of it was a large floating platform covered by some sort of shield. On one side of the platform, a bank of computers stood, the strange moving white figure sat behind them, not noticing Marcia and Lombre...or so they thought.

Marcia pressed her face on the sheild in an attempt to get a better look inside, assuming that it would be solid. Instead, she fell through it as if it were not there, hitting the floating platform with a 'thud'. The figure chuckled. Lombre entered after Marcia, taking in his surroundings. One of the computers was hooked up to the security system, showing four views. One showed the battle in the colosseum and Lombre could have sworn he saw Tropius's head. Another two showed corridors that they had previously walked down to get to this place. The forth one was connected to a camera above the computers, pointing at the floating platform. Above the platform, a kadabra sat in a floating cage. Behind the computers, barely noticeable, a glass dome, containing a strange glowing rock, was placed. The thing that Lombre noticed the most was that there were no railings to stop someone falling into the lava.

"How do you like my light screen?" the figure said, in a sickly sweet voice. "I advanced the evolution of one of the Abras around the place, just for the purpose of keeping me cool."

Marcia got up and groaned. The air inside the shield was cool compared to the outside, due to a large fan next to the computers. The figure stood up, laughed again, then turned around, revealing itself to be human...

Well, sort of. The person(?) had a tan that was a deep orange, their face was completely smooth and their eyebrows were jet black. Their eyelashes were curled and shiny and their lips were bright red. Their long, light-brown hair contain a slight tinge of red and was smooth and shiny. A pink, transparent veil covered their mouth. They wore a pure white dress with pink edges and blue jewels in various places. Venus had attempted to make herself so pretty that she barely looked human any more.

"Gaze upon the beauty of Venus!" she said in a commanding tone, as she turned around. Instead, Marcia recoiled in shock and Lombre nearly threw up.

"What in the name of Arceus is that thing!" Lombre cried in shock.

"I...think that's...Venus," Marcia stuttered, shaken, "but that's not how she looked when she had control of 'The Under' five years ago. She looks, inhuman."

"How dare you be so insolent as to insult a perfect goddess!" Venus snapped. "You are nothing, but a runt and a half-breed. I can barely stand to look upon you. I'd rather look at the ugliest Feebas."

"How can you say that you are beautiful!" Marcia growled angrily. "I may not be a particularly pretty person, but you have got lost in your attempt to become beautiful! You are a monster!"

"You girl, as ugly as you are, do not understand true beauty," she replied, angrier than before. "Just look at yourself, you don't even have a tan!"

Marcia just stared at Venus. "I never have been able to tan, and anyway, back in the old days, tan was used as a way of identifying someone who was poor. Beauty was seen in pale skin. I'll admit that a tan isn't ugly, but you've just over done it."

"How DARE you insult my tan!" Venus shrieked. "Let's see how much you will insult you when I slaughter your pokemon and beat you to such a pulp that no one will be uglier that you! GO, my beautiful pokemon!" She sent out a Milotic who had white fabric covering her entire, coiling body.

Lombre, recovering finally, saw the Milotic and charged towards it. So the battle began.

* * *

Gonzap fired his gun wildly at any peon or angry pokemon which came near. It was a good thing he brought plenty of ammo, otherwise, he would have run out a long time ago. A Poochyena jumped through the air towards him, it's fangs bared. He just fired his pistol straight through it's mouth. It blasted straight through and made a large hole in the roof of the mouth. It whimpered in pain as it collapsed to the ground. Gonzap brought the gun down and shot it right between the eyes. It instantly stopped moving.

Gonzap spun around to find a rather bulky peon charging towards him, a Conkledurr by his side. Gonzap brought his gun up and fired at the chest. The bullet shot straight towards him and...

It ricocheted off of the peon who laughed, as he now reached Gonzap. "Bullet proof armour," he said with a loud and obnoxious voice. "Only the best peons get it."

Gonzap grunted. "Okay then. Let's see how it does against THIS!" Gonzap exclaimed, thrusting his knife into the peon's stomach with as much force as he could.

The knife simply bounced off the armour, not leaving as much as a scratch, causing Gonzap's hand to fly backwards, letting go of the knife in the process (which flew into the face of a peon who was sneaking up on Gonzap). "Ha ha ha," the peon laughed. "This armour is capable of keeping out most weapons." He punched Gonzap in the stomach. Gonzap groaned in pain. "Conkledurr," he gestured to his pokemon, "let's finish this fool." The Conkledurr lumbered towards him, waving it's concrete pillars in the air, ready to strike Gonzap.

However, Skarmory, who had just finished off a rather nasty Toxicroak, noticed what was going on and flew hastily towards the Conkledurr, ramming into it, knocking it to the ground. Conkledurr swung one of it's concrete pillars at Skarmory, creating a bird-shaped dent in it. This move distracted Skarmory long enough for Conkledurr to get up off the ground.

Gonzap, by this point, had recovered. He roared and charged towards the muscular peon. They exchanged several blows before they both backed off for a quick breather. Again, they engaged in combat as the bird and the human-shaped pokemon continued their own displays of their power.

Although Conkledurr was clearly the more more powerful of the two, Skarmory was much faster and able to avoid most of it's blows. Another advantage of this was that Skarmory was able to get off more attacks since Conkledurr found it hard to avoid them. However, it shrugged most of the attacks off.

Seeing this, Skarmory decided to use a different attack. He flew a little ways back and stood on the ground doing, seemingly, nothing. Conkledurr scratched it's head, wondering why the Skarmory was choosing to be an open target, but not for long. It charged, brandishing it's, now, cracked and chipped concrete pillars, not noticing the strange glint in Skarmory's eyes.

As Conkledurr reached Skarmory, Skarmory became engulfed in a red energy field of sorts. The energy crackled as it moved around the still motionless Skarmory. Conkledurr chose to ignore it and swung towards Skarmory. The pillar collided with the energy field and rebounded.

At that moment, Skarmory rose slowly, not moving his wings. He remained motionless for a few seconds during which, Conkledurr just stared at him. Suddenly, he flew at great speed towards Conkledurr's head. He collided once and Conkledurr shrieked (which, for a Conkledurr, sounded incredibly high). Skarmory turned around and struck again. And again. In fact, he struck continuously until the energy field dissipated and his sky attack was over.

Conkledurr groaned in pain, just about able to stand it's ground. _Once more should finish it_, Skarmory thought. He moved back and stood still.

This time, Conkledurr was not fooled. As the red energy field appeared, it put up a protect (that it's owner had taught via TM), creating a green sphere of energy around it, and braced itself. Skarmory's attack struck and Conkledurr had to put all of it's might into the protect to ensure Skarmory did not break through. Skarmory frowned, seeing his foe still standing. So he returned to the original strategy.

During one of their breather's, Gonzap and the muscular peon taunted each other. "You cannot win," Gonzap mocked, "you do not have as good a moustache as me!" He stroked his moustache.

"Ah," the peon said pulling his mask up. "Of course my moustache is not as good as yours, it's better!" Gonzap looked at the thick, bushy moustache above the peon's upper lip.

"Hmm..." Gonzap said, "This gives me one more reason to kill you."

Meanwhile, Tropius, Growlithe and Bagon were having a tough time, being overwhelmed by the large number of peons and pokemon. Bagon was unleashing waves of dragon claws at pokemon that came close to her (from her non-existent claws). A rather fierce looking Skuntank made it's way towards her. "Looking for some punishment too?" she said tauntingly.

The Skuntank just looked at her and growled, not even making an attempt at communication, which Bagon thought was odd. She shrugged, then charged at with a dragon claw. However, her attack did not even come into contact with the Skuntank. Instead, it was as if Bagon's arms were moving through a very thick substance until she lost all of her momentum, forcing her arm to stop moving.

Bagon withdrew her arm and stepped back, slightly confused. The Skuntank started charging up an acid spray. Seeing this, Bagon charged up her own dragonbreath. The two attacks collided, but the two pokemon kept firing their attacks, causing a stalemate until one of them weakened. Bagon was so focused on her own attack, she did not see the strange purple aura that was forming around Skuntank and it's attack. The acid spray started to get stronger and slowly moved through the dragonbreath towards Bagon.

However, Growlithe did. He gave the Ariados, he had been fighting, one last dose of fire, then charged towards Bagon. He reached Bagon just in time, knocking her out of the way of the attack, which kept going and hit a Cipher peon, melting their uniform (and subsequently, body). Similarly, Bagon's dragonbreath went haywire and blasted a group of pokemon, severely burning them. Growlithe landed on top of Bagon, panting.

Bagon frowned at him. "You know," she said, a cheeky smile forming, "if you wanted to do 'that', you could have just asked."

Growlithe looked at her. "What?" he asked. Then it dawned upon him what she was saying. "NO, no way," he said as he got off her, his cheeks turning red (well, redder).

"Sure," Bagon said dryly, "but that'll have to wait, since that guy is charging straight towards us. Oh, and is it just me or does it look purpler than usual."

Growlithe turned around, noticing the Skuntank charging towards them. "Hmm..." he said in thought, "it does appear that way. May I make another observation? It's charging straight towards us and we are making no attempt to get out of the WAY!"

At that moment the Skuntank reached them, showing no signs of slowing down. Bagon, standing in front of Growlithe, said, "Don't worry. I've got this." She put her head in front of her body, facing Skuntank. Said Skuntank charged straight into Bagon's head, sending her flying away. The Skuntank did not slow down at all.

Growlithe yelped as he rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding it. As it past, he felt something close to nausea. He got up and looked again at the Skuntank once more. It seemed, to Growlithe, to be engulfed in a shadowy aura. "How the hell am I meant to take down something like that?" Growlithe thought aloud.

"Hmm..." Growlithe jumped as he heard a voice behind him. He spun around, fangs bared. He looked upon the speaker to find it was Tropius. "That must be one of those shadow pokemon that Lombre talked about," she said, a concerned look on her face. "They are much stronger than average pokemon."

"Did Lombre know their weaknesses?" Growlithe asked, noticing that the Skuntank was now turning around, a look of pure hatred-to everything-on it's face.

Tropius thought for a moment. "I believe Lombre said that his old master deemed them 'invincible.' Although, I'm not sure you can really trust a madman with a red and white afro." She chuckled, wondering how Lombre could be scared of such a man. "I think the best course of action would be to attack it from afar." She gestured, with her head, for him to climb on her back. "Climb aboard."

"Oh no, I've had enough of that for one day," Growlithe said. He then looked at the oncoming Skuntank. "On second thoughts, I'll do it." He scrambled up Tropius's back. She took off just as the Skuntank was about to ram into them.

Tropius shivered, feeling the same sense of nausea that Growlithe felt earlier. They flew over the fight, Skuntank chasing after them, knocking down friend and foe alike. "Just one quick stop I'd like to make," Tropius said, looking down.

She dove into a group of pokemon and brought out Bagon, the scruff of the neck in her mouth. "'ey, wha' yeh think yer doin'," Bagon said.

"Whoops," Tropius said, "Wrong Bagon, sorry." She dropped the Bagon to the ground, where it was quickly hit by the rouge Skuntank.

They soon found the Bagon they were looking for. She was standing on top of a pile of dead or badly injured peons and pokemon. Tropius landed next to her. "Come on, we're taking on that Skuntank by air," Tropius said to her.

"Yeah, okay, that's fine by me," Bagon said, jumping onto Tropius. "That thing is really tough. If I'm not careful, it might over take me on the number of kills made." She noticed Growlithe, as Tropius took off, and commented cheekily, "I s'pose you can say that Tropius isn't the only pokemon you've been on top of today."

Growlithe groaned and Tropius turned around, questioning it. "I saved her bloody life and this is how she repays me," Growlithe said wearily.

"Just because you saved her, doesn't mean she will mate with you," Tropius commented, oblivious to Bagon's cheeky smile.

"What?" Growlithe said, cheeks going redder again, "I didn't even try that! I just knocked her out of the way of an oncoming attack and happened to land on her!"

"Oh," Tropius said, "and I assume this is Bagon taking this out of proportion...again." She frowned at Bagon. "That doesn't matter right now. That Skuntank is aiming flamethrowers at us now." The Skuntank, in fact, fired a flamethrower at them, at that moment, causing Tropius to swerve out of the much to the distaste of the passengers.

"I think we should fire back at it," Growlithe said shakily. Tropius and Bagon nodded. They prepared their attacks; Tropius fired air slashes, which slashed the Skuntank, Bagon charged up a dragonbreath and unleashed the stream of flame from the back of Tropius, and Growlithe shot flame bursts, almost always a direct hit.

The Skuntank flinched in pain a few times, but other than that, it kept unleashing flamethrowers. "Damn," Bagon said in between dragonbreaths. "This is not working."

Tropius swerved out of the way of another flamethrower. This one nearly hit her. "Do either of you know a ground-type attack?" Growlithe asked, getting concerned. "We may be able to over power it with it's weakness."

"Marcia once taught me earthquake via TM," Tropius replied. "I could try using it, but you two may also be hurt."

"Typical double battle physics," Bagon muttered. The other two stared at her incredulously. "Don't worry, you wouldn't understand. Any way, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Well actually," Growlithe started, "I'm weak to-"

"TOO LATE," Bagon said, doing a body slam on Tropius, causing her to roar with pain and begin falling.

"Did you have to do that?" Tropius shouted, attempting to be heard over the rushing wind around them.

"YES!" Bagon yelled, and then they hit the ground. Fissures formed in the stadium floor, making their way towards Skuntank. Skuntank-since it was a mindless shadow pokemon-completely ignored the fissures and subsequently, plummeted into one, falling into the basement.

Tropius withdrew the tendril-like fissures, causing them to seal up again. "Not as invincible as you said then Tropius," Growlithe said, hurting all over from the earthquake.

"Indeed," Tropius replied. "It's a good thing we know that they're not invincible, since we may need to kill more of them before this day is over." Tropius took off again and hovered a few metres above the ground. "Hey, I think I see where we need to go to find Marcia."

Growlithe looked in that direction. "Oh yeah," he said. "There must be a reason for there to be so many peons by that door."

They began to fly in that direction, however, the ground began to shake. A large hole opened up in the floor and Skuntank came flying out of it, this time furious. It jumped up and grabbed hold of Tropius's underside, digging it's claws into the skin.

Growlithe and Bagon felt very sick and Tropius more so, due to the claws digging into her body. "What the HELL was that!" Growlithe cried (once again).

Tropius looked underneath herself and found the Skuntank. It now had a red tinge to it's purple aura. It spat an acid spray at her. She moved her head back up and charged a solar beam. She fired the beam at Skuntank in an attempt to knock it off. However, the beam didn't even hit the Skuntank. Instead, it was absorbed by the shadow aura, causing it to become more intense.

"Crap!" Tropius said, bringing her head back up. She turned to the other two. "The Skuntank has attached itself to my underside and I think it's in hyper mode. I don't know what we can do to stop it." She winced in pain as the Skuntank dug it's claws further into her body.

"I have an idea!" Bagon announced. "Tropius use earthquake again!" Tropius complied, seeing that she had no better ideas. This time, she didn't hit the ground with as much force, but it was still enough for Skuntank to release it's grip.

Tropius flew up much higher to ensure the rampant Skuntank could not reach them. Even so, it continued to follow them, much quicker than before. Bagon noticed this and commented, "We could use this to our advantage."

"HOW?" Growlithe yelled at her. "We're being chased by a nearly invincible Skuntank that is determined to get our blood and nothing seems to be able to stop it, and you think we can use this to our ADVANTAGE!"

"Of course we can," Bagon said. "We have a horde of peons to get through and that Skuntank seems to just knock over anything in it's way. Do you see what I'm saying? Tropius, we should make our way to that door."

"Okay then," Tropius replied. They flew straight towards the door (staying a safe distance above it). The peons watched Tropius fly over and ordered their pokemon to 'shot it down.' They were so busy watching that they did not see the insane Skuntank coming their way until it was too late...

Not only did the Skuntank smash through all of the peons, it also destroyed the door and knocked over the furniture that Marcia had piled up earlier. It kept running down the corridor a little ways, then, realising it's pray was gone, it turned around and ran back out.

Bagon saw the Skuntank from Tropius's back. "I'll keep it distracted," she said. "You two go and find Marcia and Lombre." With that, Bagon jumped off of Tropius. Growlithe did not even try to stop her, knowing his attempts would be pointless.

Bagon landed, head first on Skuntank's back, wincing in pain as the shadow aura washed over her head. The Skuntank also winced in pain as Bagon's head made contact with it's body, suprising it. Skuntank shook her off, but she was back up in no time, firing a dragonbreath which got absorbed by the aura, making it brighter. "Hmm..." Bagon said. "So only direct attacks work on you then. Well then, let's see how much you like my headbutt. Bagon lowered her head and charged.

While this was going on, Growlithe and Tropius made their way through the door as quickly as they could. Growlithe considered attempting to seal the door, but there was no way, since the door was so badly damaged. So, they began to run down a long corridor.

* * *

Lombre was doing well fighting against Milotic, partially because, the attacks that Milotic unleashed were all water type, which Lombre was very resistant against. Milotic formed an aqua ring, surrounding herself in a veil of water in an attempt to slow Lombre's attacks as well as heal herself. However, as Lombre's ability-swift swim-implies, his speed was completely unaffected by the water as he smashed into Milotic with a zen headbutt.

Whilst Milotic was dazed, Lombre turned around and became engulfed in green energy. The energy flowed out from his body, spreading out as it surrounded the Milotic. Once it completely surrounded her, it closed in around her, passing through the aqua ring and engulfing the serpent-like pokemon. Lombre focused and his mega drain started to absorb the energy from Milotic and add it to his own energy.

Milotic flinched as it's energy was drained away. It could no longer focus on keeping the aqua ring intact (not that it was helping anyway), so it dissipated, leaving a puddle on the floor. Milotic unleashed a twister which spiralled towards Lombre.

Lombre, seeing this, lost his concentration on his own attack, so that he could dodge out of the way of the oncoming twister. He put as much pressure on the floor as he could, to ensure that he did not get buffeted of the platform.

Seeing that Lombre was busy, Milotic charged forward and used an aqua tail on him. Although the watery aspect of the attack did not effect Lombre, the tail hit hard, sweeping Lombre into the air. He landed hard, but recovered quickly, unleashing an uproar which, caused both trainers to put their hands over their ears. Milotic was affected worse than them because, it had no way to cover it's ear-holes. Instead, it screwed up it's face as it cringed, leaving it completely open to Lombre's attack.

Lombre charged at her with another zen-headbutt. This one critically damaged her since she had no way of defending herself and it hit her straight in the forehead. Milotic roared in pain as the blow made contact.

Venus looked furious, her orange face turning purple. "Milotic!" she bellowed. "Use our special strategy to incapacitate him!" Milotic complied. She turned to face Lombre and stared right into his eyes.

Lombre looked at Milotic, seeing her in a new light. Suddenly, she wasn't an evil soldier of the Cipher admin Venus, but instead, a beautiful serpentine creature. He thought she was irresistible. He started to wonder why he had been harming such an exquisite creature. "M'lady," Lombre said in a wistful tone as he slowly walked towards the most amazing thing he'd seen. She giggled, or in his mind, she had giggled.

He was about to reach her, preparing to wrap his arms around her, when suddenly, he heard a strange whistling noise. In an instant, he snapped out of the trance and turned to face the direction of the noise. The noise came from his owner, who was holding a red flute to her mouth. She removed it from her mouth and said, "I had a feeling that you may use attract, knowing the way you are so, I bought a gift that my father gave me from his adventures in Hoenn."

Venus stared at the red flute and snarled. She looked as though she could smash every single computer on this platform and then knock the platform itself out of the skies.

However, while the two trainers were arguing, Lombre, who had been distracted by the idea of him falling in love with that strange beast, had not noticed the same strange beast appearing behind him and coiling around him with a wrap. "Looks like you'll be trapped in my embrace, whether you love me or not," Milotic taunted. She giggled, something that Lombre no longer enjoyed hearing.

As Milotic tried to crush his bones, Lombre tried to focus. Unfortunately for Milotic. She was too busy enjoying the torture of Lombre to notice the tale-tale signs of him forming a mega drain. She noticed too late. The green energy engulfed the both of them, draining from Milotic and giving to Lombre.

Milotic soon felt too tired to keep grip and slipped away from Lombre, allowing him to breath again. Milotic quickly used a recover to regain some of her energy, then prepared another attack for Lombre. However, she was interrupted when Venus put her arm in front of her. "Milotic," she said in a surprisingly calm voice, "you won't be able to defeat this horrible frog on your own," Lombre frowned at this comment, "but let's see how it does if you have some help."

Venus pulled out another pokeball and sent out a long, metal, segmented serpentine pokemon. "Crush it, Steelix!" she called out.

Marcia looked at the pokemon in confusion. "I thought you only kept 'beautiful' pokemon," she said, frowning, "but I doubt anyone could find that thing beautiful in the slightest." The Steelix in question growled-not necessarily at that comment, since it seemed quite angry anyway.

"You'd be surprised what sort of people you find on the internet," Venus said, shuddering, "like that crazy, technology obsessed couple, Ein and Lovrina. However, despite the opinions of those sort of people, I completely agree with you in the instance. Steelix is ugly. The reason I have her is as a reminder-"

"That there will always be an ugly part of you, no matter how beautiful you think you are ?" Marcia suggested.

"No," Venus replied. "She reminds me that everyone is ugly compared to me! FUFUFUFU!" she cackled. Marcia just stared at her, dumbstruck.

While they were talking, Lombre was staring in horror at the Steelix. He could see that it was surrounded by a dark purple aura, the mark of a shadow pokemon. Suddenly, Lombre became concerned about his team mates, wondering if they had encountered shadow pokemon. He knew that he had to take it out before it went into hyper mode, since he had no direct water type attacks and the hyper mode aura was able to absorb any indirect energy based attack.

As if on cue, Venus commanded, "Milotic, send Steelix into hyper mode!" Milotic fired a powerful hydro pump at Steelix, smashing through the shadow aura and causing the Steelix to roar with pain. Suddenly, the platform shook and the aura surrounding Steelix gained a red tint. "Steelix! Use your own wrap on the Lombre!" The Steelix slithered towards Lombre with surprising speed.

Lombre attempted to avoid the grip of Steelix, but was too slow. Steelix grabbed him with great force, coiling her steel body around him. Lombre started to wish that Milotic had him again. The pain was doubled by the shadow aura, pulsing through his body, making him throw up and have a headache.

In one last desperate attempt to free himself, Lombre used mega drain. The green aura touched the shadow aura and suddenly, Lombre felt his own energy being drained, into the Steelix, her aura now blazing more than before. Lombre passed out just as Steelix finished completely covering him in her coils. Marcia gasped and attempted to use Lombre's pokeball to recall him, but to no avail.

Venus cackled. "Looks like Lombre is down and out! He'll make a good addition to our ranks of shadow pokemon." Marcia gave her a look of pure hatred. "Now, now, dear, don't get so angry. You'll get too hot and overheat the place. 'News lady used overheat'," Venus mocked, "How about I get Milotic to cool you down?" Venus looked at Milotic. "Use hydro pump on her!"

Milotic turned and faced Marcia. It shot a great blast of water from it's mouth, which hit Marcia, square in the chest. Marcia was blasted back, out of the light screen shield and right to the edge of the floating platform. She managed to grab onto the side of the platform, just about.

However, water from the hydro pump covered the edge of the platform, making it hard for Marcia to keep hold. Just as she was about to lose her grip, Venus stomped down on her hands, causing Marcia terrible pain. "'Milotic used hydro pump'," Venus taunted, with a raucous laugh, "it's super EFFECTIVE! And you will die, as soon as I give my speech to the world! You interrupted it, so now I'll interrupt your death!" Marcia could see that she had brought a camera on a tripod over and another pokemon-a Raichu-was operating it. "Raichu, start the camera!" The Raichu pressed a button and the camera whirred to life.

Venus then gave her speech to the world, a speech that, due to her hacking (which Ein taught her to do), would be broadcast on every TV and radio station in Orre.

"Attention, people of the world!"

Tropius and Growlithe ran along a series of cat walks. Although both of them normally enjoyed the heat, the temperature where they were was unbearable. Even so, they kept running, knowing that if they did not, their trainer's life would be at stake.

As they ran, some speakers, mounted from the ceiling, blared to life, transmitting Venuses message.

"I am making a message on behalf of team Cipher."

The noise in the colosseum was worse, due to the larger amount of speakers. Bagon charged towards her Skuntank oppressor once again. Her head smashed into Skuntank's, dazing it for a moment, allowing her to catch her breath. Skuntank quickly regained composure. It's shadow aura flared up intensely and it charged towards Bagon with a shadow end. Bagon, seeing this, dodged out of the way.

However, Bagon did not expect Skuntank to arc around so quickly and crash into her. She was sent flying into the stadium seating. She hit a wall, hard. Bagon attempted to move, but could not. She was sure that she had broken several bones. The Skuntank now loomed over her, it's aura crackling.

"_This is the end," _Bagon thought as Skuntank's aura flared up again. Bagon closed her eyes tightly. "_My only regret is that I'll never be able to fly by myself. Oh and that I'll never be able to tell_-"

Her last regret was interrupted as she became bathed in a bright light that she experienced, even with her eyes tightly shut. "_Is this what death is like," _She thought. However, she appeared to be growing and being encased by a strange, hard material.

Skuntank flinched and took several steps back, as it stared into the completely blanked out form of Bagon. Nearly blinded, it sighed in relief as the light finally receded to reveal that it's opponent was no longer standing there. Instead, a larger, creature almost completely encased in a white, spherical shell. Four small legs jutted out of the bottom of the shell and at the front, a hexagonal opening showed a layer of thick black skin with two closed eyes set into it.

The two eye opened, revealing large, yellow orbs with black pupils inset into them. The creature that once was Bagon, now spoke, "So, I have changed. Now the battle really begins!" She charged straight towards the shocked Skuntank.

"If you give in to our demands, all will be fine for you."

On the other side of the battlefield, Gonzap was becoming more and more tired whilst the muscular peon showed no signs of slowing down. Skarmory kept a relentless assault on the Conkledurr, who was still staying up, much to the avian's surprise.

Getting rather infuriated, Skarmory moved back and prepared to use another sky attack. Conkledurr saw this and put up another protect in preparation, as soon as the red energy engulfed Skarmory. It waited for Skarmory to charge forward.

Instead, Skarmory let the energy dissipate and flew up into the air. Once in the air, Skarmory began charging up his sky attack again. Conkledurr looked at this with frustration, then it noticed that it's protect shield had worn off, much to it's horror.

Skarmory took this time to strike. It swooped towards the fleeing Conkledurr with brilliant grace. It collided with a great explosion of energy from which, Skarmory was unharmed. Needless to say, Conkledurr was seriously injured. It collapsed on the ground, face first.

Meanwhile, Gonzap was struggling to stand. The muscular peon taunted him. "Ha! Since you do not have the best moustache, you cannot possibly win."

"Of course...I can win..." Gonzap groaned, "I have...the best moustache..."

"Refusing to accept the truth to the end." The peon laughed. "Well, this will be your end." He prepared a punch. Just as he was about to thrust his fist forward, he shuddered and let out a strange cry.

"Err...was that a battle cry or..." Gonzap asked, surprised that the fist had not moved yet. Suddenly, the peon fell forward onto his face, revealing Skarmory, standing on his back, a large hole in the peon's back. Skarmory's beak was covered in blood.

"You do realise that Cipher wasted so much money on the front of that suit that they had to make the back weak," Skarmory said. "I mean, every boss battle has a weakness."

"Err...I knew that, I was just trying to get around to his back," Gonzap lied. Skarmory rolled his eyes. "Wait a minute, what was that about 'boss battle'?" Gonzap asked, confused as to why Skarmory used that terminology.

"Nothing to worry your pretty little moustache about," Skarmory said condescendingly.

"Hey! My moustache is not pretty," Gonzap said, completely missing the point of what Skarmory said. "It's handsome!" Skarmory wing-palmed.

"Our demands are simple. Hand over all your pokemon to Cipher so that we are free to take over Orre."

The Snagem grunts who forgot flying types (or brought Doduo/Dodrio) were crowded around a radio, listening to the end of the Realglam championships, when the broadcast was interrupted by an insane woman spouting some drivel.

The grunts screamed with rage when they heard this, while the captured peons cheered at their admin's success. They soon shut up when the grunts turned and faced them, drawing their weapons.

"However, we do not expect you to surrender to us just like that. We have a little incentive for you."

Silva was rather annoyed since his animé was interrupted by a talking orange. Then he noticed that Marcia was hanging from the ledge behind the orange. "What the hell," he yelled. "Ah, she'll be fine. A hero always comes along to save an important protagonist. Unless that hero is supposed to be me, in which case, she is completely screwed."

"I have used the lava in this volcano to create a bomb. Although the bomb may not be strong enough to destroy the region, if I set it off in here, it could trigger a volcanic eruption."

Ein and Lovrina were in their lab doing 'vital experiments'. "Oh Ein!" Lovrina squealed, completely ruining the narrator's attempt at covering up what they were doing.

Suddenly, their TV burst into life, broadcasting Venus's speech. "EIN!" Lovrina screamed, seeing the ugly face of Venus. "Why did you teach your ugly ex how to make TVs turn on?"

Ein sighed and said, "The only reason I taught her that was because many people would have their TVs turned off. And others would turn it off once they see her ugly face."

"I don't know what you saw in her," Lovrina said.

"Well," Ein replied, "she wasn't always that ugly."

"Yes, but she was always completely vain," Lovrina said with spite.

"Hmm..." Ein said, "I suppose that is true. Not that it matters because, now I have you."

"Oh Ein," Lovrina said with joy, "you know I love it when you rhyme." And so the couple went back to their 'experiments'.

"Therefore, if you do not surrender your pokemon to Cipher, I will have no choice but to set off the bomb, annihilating the entirety of Orre."

In Pyrite, already, many people were saying their farewells to their pokemon. One boy, however, was furious. "I can't believe it!" he screamed to his Nincada, "I know you would be evolving soon, but now these idiots want to destroy Orre, unless I give you up!"

The Nincada did not feel quite the same way as the boy. She was concerned because, somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard a strange voice that wanted her to do terrible things. She did not want to kill her trainer and being taken away from him may be a good way to avoid it.

"You will have three days to hand over your pokemon to Cipher peons. If you don't, Orre goes BOOM! So long then."

The camera was stopped filming. The Raichu switched it off and walked out of Marcia's line of sight, she assumed to the bank of computers. Venus turned around and looked down at her. Her face was on the other side of the light screen barrier, distorting it more than it normally was. "Now that that is dealt with, time to deal with you," she cackled. She moved her feet towards the edge of the platform, dragging Marcia's hands with them.

Marcia knew what was coming. She was less worried about her own fate than she was about the fate of her pokemon. Would they join Growlithe in the hunt for the 'catalyst'? Or go their own separate ways? How long would they survive? Are they even alive now? These questions and more plagued her mind as she prepared for her plunge into the volcano.

* * *

Growlithe and Tropius had now reached a dead end. The catwalk they were on, quite simply, ended. It looked as though there should have been something else on the end of the catwalk, however, it was no longer there. Tropius looked down and gasped.

"What is it?" Growlithe asked.

"Just look down," Tropius said, unable to properly reply. Growlithe looked down to see a floating platform covered by a shield, identical to the light screen that Girafarig had created earlier. On the edge of the platform, a figure dangled from the edge. Another figure stood over the first figure.

"Holy shit!" Growlithe exclaimed aloud. "Is that Marcia?"

"I think it is!" Tropius said with alarm. "We have to save her! Growlithe, get on!"

Growlithe climbed on board and Tropius took off flying towards the platform. Had they looked upwards, they would have noticed that they were standing in the shadow of another pokemon.

Tropius dived down towards the platform at an urgent speed. She reached the platform in a matter of seconds and did an arc. Venus was too busy laughing at Marcia to notice the Tropius flying straight towards her.

She did turn, but by that time it was too late. Venus screamed as she was sent flying by Tropius's fly and disappeared over the side of the platform, plunging to her doom. The scream echoed as she fell. Milotic shot forwards towards that side and looked over, as did Venus's over pokemon-who were manning the bank of computers-except Steelix, who barely reacted, other than Growling at the strange dinosaur that flew past.

However, without Venus to anchor her, Marcia lost her grip and plunged to her doom. "Tropius!" Growlithe cried. "We have to dive down and save her!"

Tropius just looked down and shook her head. "No, we can't," she said solemnly. "If I flew any further down, my leaves could burst into flames. Furthermore, I don't think I could fall fast enough to save her."

Growlithe said nothing in response. He just watched as the first human to connect with him, since his trainer's death, fell to her own death. _"Is this what happens to all humans that make a connection with me?" _he thought, stifling his own tears.

That was when a pokemon emerged from the shadows of the catwalks above and dived down at an incredible speed towards Marcia. Both Tropius and Growlithe watched it with shock. Growlithe felt he had an odd sense of recollection as he watched the blue, avian-like pokemon with white, cotton wings, dove underneath Marcia, catching her mid-flight.

A memory flashed in front of Growlithe. He was at a beach, paddling in the shallows, but he got pulled out by a large wave. At the time, he could not swim. He struggled, then sunk under the water. Then a pokemon dove into the water and grabbed him with it's talons. He next remembered waking up on the beach, the pokemon stared at him, behind it, his trainer.

Growlithe saw the face and in an instant, knew the name; "Airina."

"Growlithe, why did you say that?" Growlithe returned to his senses to find Tropius staring at him, looking confused. He realised he had said the name aloud.

"I think-" Growlithe started, "no, it can't be...but, she died."

"Who died Growlithe?" Tropius asked, now concerned about Growlithe. It was at that moment that the pokemon that Marcia was saved by-from the species known as Altaria-appeared, alongside Tropius.

"Hey Growlithe," it said in a friendly voice.

"Airina," Growlithe said quietly, "but, how did you survive? I thought all of you died, like my mother."

The Altaria-Airina-looked down with a sad look for a second. Then she raised her head and said, "I'll explain everything, meet me at the bottom of Mount Battle." With this, she flew off, Marcia still on her back.

"We should get going then, Tropius," Growlithe said, watching Airina as she flew off.

"But what about Lombre?" Tropius said, getting worried about him. "Where is he? He didn't fall in to the volcano? Did he?"

Suddenly, Gonzap came running down the catwalks and jumped onto the floating platform, which Venus's pokemon had piloted back to it's docking station. He charged up his snag machine-a series of flexible, metal poles, attached to his arm, ending in a metal hand which acted as a glove-and a pokeball formed in the hand. It glowed a light blue aura. Gonzap chucked it towards the Steelix.

The Steelix was sucked into the pokeball, revealing the unconscious Lombre, who collapsed on the ground. Tropius gasped and swooped down towards him. She landed and nudged him with her head. He stirred, looked up and smiled as he saw Tropius looking at him. She picked him up-using her mouth-by the arm and placed him on her back. He slipped back into an unconscious state, so Growlithe had to keep hold of him.

Just as they were about to take off, a shelled pokemon, with an odd bag tied around it, came dashing towards them shouting, "Tropius! Growlithe! Wait for me!"

The pokemon reached them and Tropius asked, "Bagon, is that you?"

"That's right, Tropius," she replied, "and don't call me Bagon any more. The name is Shelgon."

"Oh!" Tropius exclaimed, "then you evolved." She looked at Shelgon again. "What's with the bag?"

"Well, you see," Bagon explained, "I don't have hands any more and that friendly guy over there," she pointed at Gonzap, "caught the Skuntank, then gave it to me to look after, since he didn't think he could purify it. And he gave me the bag to carry it in."

At this moment, Gonzap walked over to Shelgon. "I think you can look after this one as well," he said, placing Steelix's pokeball in her bag. He then walked away, collecting the other members of Venus's party (none of which were shadow pokemon).

Shelgon jumped onto Tropius's back, who found Shelgon much heavier than Bagon. "With that done then," Shelgon said, "shall we get going?"

"Indeed we shall," Tropius replied. They took off, albeit with a little more difficulty due to the extra weight, and flew towards the entrance.


	9. Lost memories

The streets of Celadon city were crawling with all sorts of thugs, creeping around, under the night sky. Far below the crime infested streets, underneath the noisy game corner, Tabitha sat in a lounge, relaxing in an arm chair, after a long day dealing with some of Giovanni's customers who had 'unpaid debts'. Giovanni did not only own the rocket game corner in Celadon, but also various other businesses including the safest bank in Kanto. Although it's the safest bank in Kanto, if you leave a debt unpaid for too long, you may end up with a lot more trouble than just high interest.

A few rocket grunts were gathered around a pool table and a couple of others were listening to the radio, but, other than that, the lounge was empty. Tabitha's Mightyena was lying on the floor next to his chair, fast asleep.

A man walked in, wearing a similar uniform to most of the grunts only, his boots and gloves had a ring of red colouring on them, his belt was designed slightly differently and he had gold trimming at the top of his shirt and trousers. Most of the rockets turned to look at him, possibly just because of his peculiar, blue hair. However, it may also have been because, he was a high ranking executive named 'Proton'.

Proton turned towards Tabitha and said, "Nice job with that Dragonite. It could have been real trouble to deal with, even with all the grunts-and myself-battling it. How did you know that you could distract them with money?"

"Well," Tabitha replied, "I know, from experience, that dragons have a tendency to gather as much treasure as possible." He chuckled. "I once dropped my wallet whilst running from an angry Salamence."

"Sounds like a good skill to know," Proton said. "I bet you know a lot more about dealing with strong pokemon."

"I wouldn't say lots," Tabitha said, bashfully.

"Don't doubt yourself," Proton said supportively, "I think you'll do well in team Rocket. Keep up the good work and I might put in a good word to the boss. See if you can join operation 'Mewtwo'."

Tabitha thought there was something strange about the word 'Mewtwo'. Something oddly familiar. "Operation 'Mewtwo', sir?" he queried.

"Ah," Proton said, "you don't know about Giovanni's past do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, I won't give you the full story now, but, when he was younger, he created a clone of a creature named 'Mew'."

Tabitha's eyes widened. "You mean the mother of all creation, Arceus' mate herself?"

"Indeed. I do not know how he obtained the DNA, however, the clone was incredibly powerful. Also, angry because of all of the tests done on him. One day, the clone, named Mewtwo, escaped, swearing a vow that, one day, he would wipe out humanity for their crimes against pokemon kind."

"Despite his vow of vengeance," Proton continued, "Giovanni still wanted to recapture Mewtwo, believing it to be the ultimate pokemon. However, he has not been seen since that day."

"A strange man who lives near Cerulean cave-and has really tall hair-said he's seen a pokemon that fits the description of Mewtwo deep inside the cave. It may be nothing, considering what that guy is like, but it may be a good chance to recapture Mewtwo."

"Something like that doesn't seem like something I'd be good against," Tabitha replied.

"As I said before," Proton lectured, "don't doubt yourself. And even if you aren't up to battling Mewtwo, there are some tough pokemon in Cerulean cave. You'd be able to deal with them."

"If you say so," Tabitha said, unconvinced.

"Anyway, I have to go," Proton said, kicking a rocket grunt who was cleaning his shoes, in an attempt to get Proton to tell Giovanni to take him on operation Mewtwo. "That doesn't work on me." Proton turned to the man sitting next to Tabitha. "You also did well today, Watcher."

"Thank you," Watcher said, listening to the radio, which was on the table next to him. He was tall and had black hair. A Croagunk sat on one arm of the chair he sat in. Proton walked out of the room and, for a few moments, the only sounds were the clacking of the pool balls and the crackle of 'Radio Orre' informing the world about their current crisis. Their local team seeking world domination had created a bomb, or that was what Tabitha could discern from the crackling radio.

Then Watcher looked over at Tabitha and said, "Hey, you're the guy who dealt with the Dragonite that was causing us havoc. I have to say, I'm rather impressed. The name's Look-err Watcher. What's yours?"

"Huh," Tabitha said, surprised to be spoken to, "my name is Tabitha and, too be honest, the only reason I knew what to do was luck. Don't praise me for that."

"I don't think it was just luck," Watcher replied with a grin, "you seem to have a real knack for working with pokemon."

Tabitha managed a slight grin. "Maybe I do..."

* * *

The sun was setting over the plains of Orre as Tropius, Growlithe, Shelgon and Lombre emerged from Mount Battle. The temperature outside had significantly dropped and Growlithe was now finding it a bit chilly. At the same time, he was excited to be able to speak to Airina again.

They landed out in front of the Mount Battle entrance where a large number of news reporters for various stations and onlookers had gathered. The peons that were prisoners of the Snagem grunts were begging to be freed whilst the grunts themselves were enjoying their moment in the spotlight as they were interviewed. Their radio was left unattended, blasting out the results of the Realgam championships.

As Airina and Marcia landed, all of the reporters surged forward, leaving the Snagem grunts, they were interviewing, behind. "What happened?" was what nearly every reporter asked in unison as they reached her. Then came a tidal wave of other questions about the events of Mount Battle.

After everything she had been through, Marcia found herself overwhelmed and unable to answer. Meanwhile, Airina was basking in the screen time she was getting. She had not been on TV since before her old trainer had been killed.

Luckily for Marcia, a crackle from the radio saved her from having to answer the questions. "Attention people of Orre," a gruff voice said, "Cipher's admin Venus is dead and I, Gonzap, leader of team Snagem, have disarmed the bomb." There was a group sigh of relief from nearly everyone in Orre.

"No need to thank me all at once," Gonzap continued, "I was just trying to deal with some old 'friends' who double-crossed team Snagem a few years back. In any case, our work here is done. All Snagem grunts, return to base." With this, a large swarm of flying pokemon-with riders-flew out of the colosseum and of in an easterly direction. The grunts who were on the ground climbed aboard various pokemon and rode off, following the flying grunts. A few grunts cursed, wishing they had brought faster or bigger pokemon.

The news reporters and onlookers began celebrating. Airina turned to Marcia and the other group of pokemon (who had arrived during Gonzap's speech) and asked, "Shall we get out of here while they are distracted?" She pointed (with her beak) towards the reporters.

"That's probably the best idea," Marcia answered. "Being a reporter myself, I know how relentless they are." With that, she took the bag from Shelgon and returned her pokemon to their respective pokeballs. Airina offered Growlithe a lift, however, he refused since he had had enough of flying for one day.

Marcia climbed onto her bike-Growlithe climbing on behind her-and headed off, past the hoards of people, so busy celebrating that they did not notice her leave. Airina trailed behind the two of them, worried about what she would have to do before the day was done.

* * *

Gonzap laughed as he flew off on Skarmory. "That was a good battle, eh Skarmory?" he said, whilst trying to get comfortable. However, due to the large amount of equipment he had taken from Mount Battle and was now in a rucksack on his back, he was unable to get comfortable.

"What do you mean good?" Skarmory exclaimed, dumbstruck, "if it wasn't for me, you may have died. Furthermore, we lost a large number of grunts in that fight. How are we going to make up for those numbers?"

"We will mourn our losses and remember them as heroes," Gonzap said, solemnly, "and, now that everyone knows we saved their asses, they will be lining up to join. And another thing," a look of pure joy was written on his face, "we now have a little something that needs to be returned to Cipher."

"You mean the bomb?" Skarmory asked with a hint of concern.

"Of course I mean the bomb," Gonzap replied, laughing, "I may have deactivated it, but that doesn't mean I can't rearm it whenever I like."

"I still don't understand how they created a bomb from a meteor and some lava," Skarmory said, "let alone where they got the meteor in the first place."

"Some things are best left unknown, Skarmory," Gonzap said, still chuckling.

* * *

The silence overwhelmed the conference room in Cipher's base as one of the TV screens on a side wall, switched itself off. Evice sat in his seat, fuming whilst Selena attempted to work out how far Venus' failure had set them back. Certainly a lot, but their plans would still be perfectly possible. The advisers were motionless, expressing no emotion, as always. The other peons were in a state of shock, anger, grief or in the case of Gorigan, humour because, he was thinking of a funny joke, completely oblivious to the emotions of the people around him.

The first person to speak up was Evice. "My colleagues," he began, keeping his voice steady, "today, on security footage, we watched our own admin, Venus, get murdered by a Tropius-which we know belongs to that news reporter, Marcia-and then our operation become completely ruined by team Snagem."

"We now have two threats to our organisation-well, three if you count the mysterious resistance that have been causing havoc-and we now need to deal with them. Dakim, you are now in charge of the fight against team Snagem. Gorigan will give you details as to where the Snagem base is located and you will take a fleet of ships alongside Snattle to destroy them."

"Yes sir," Snattle said.

"I will crush them with pure strength," Dakim shouted, much to the annoyance of those around him.

"Yes," Evice said, concerned if he was making the right choice, "try to use a bit of strategy too."

Before Dakim could say anything else, Selena interjected. "We are going to need a new admin, Merton," she pointed at the short peon. Tears were visible on his cheeks. "As Venus' brother and a competent peon, we believe you will make a good admin. Do you accept the role as a new admin?"

"I will accept," he replied, somewhat shakily, "as long as I get to avenge Venus' death by killing Marcia and her pokemon."

Selena looked at the rage in his face and smiled. "Of course. In fact, my first order is for you to take your peons, hunt down and kill Marcia."

"It will be done Ma'am," Merton replied, a dark smile on his face.

Selena turned to another admin, one who had been on important business during the last meeting. She was much younger than Selena, had light brown hair, piercing hazel eyes and a seemingly innocent smile. She wore a large brown coat, a white and blue-striped t-shirt underneath and black, scruffy trousers. Upon her head was a dark blue bandanna. "Stephanie-" Selena began.

"That's CAPTAIN Stephanie to you, mother," the admin, Stephanie retorted.

Selena sighed, wishing she would just grow up already. "Captain Stephanie," Evice chuckled at this, "I need you to go to Agate village and destroy the relic stone. Supposedly, it has the power to fully open the hearts of shadow pokemon." Stephanie looked up as if deciding whether to do it or not. "Please..." Selena said in a demoralising voice.

"Hmm...Can I take my fleet with me?" Stephanie asked in a childish way.

"It really shouldn't require more than one person to deal with this. And you're the only one of us who is not a known criminal." Stephanie started to shake her head. "Okay. Fine then. You can take your fleet."

"Yay," Stephanie cheered, "You're the best Mum ever! I need to get prepared." With that she ran out of the room.

Selena looked towards an old man with a white beard a scar crossing his right eye. "Keep an eye on her, Odan. Do whatever you can to keep her safe. And if she messes up, you have my authority to take over as captain."

"Of course," Odan replied, "she will be in good hands." He walked out of the room, with a limp, following Stephanie.

"Well then," Evice said, "if the little soap opera is over, let us continue." Selena growled at him, but said nothing. "Gorigan, you are in charge of the hunt for the resistance group. Use whatever means necessary to root them out."

Gorigan looked towards Evice. "Gorigan would love to do something useful since his usefulness in stealing the orb-thingy from Gonzap."

"Ensure that you do, Gorigan." Evice now turned to a screen on the wall. It was black. Then it suddenly flickered on and a picture of Ein appeared. He was just putting on his lab coat and his glasses were wonky. Lovrina stood behind him. "Ein!" Evice snapped. "I told you when we would next hold a meeting, yet you are late!"

"Ah...umm...well, the thing is," Ein said, adjusting his glasses and stumbling over his own words, "there was a-err-power cut (yes that'll do) and we couldn't make contact for a few minutes."

"Fair enough then," Evice said whilst a few peons face palmed, surprised that he fell for it, "I thought your system in the lab was fool-proof, but, whatever. What is the status on the project?"

"Well sir," Ein said, silently cheering that Evice had fallen for it, "there are just a few more adjustments that need to be made and then it's done. I estimate three more days until project completion."

"Good," Evice replied, "once you have finished it, take it straight to Realgam tower. Since the championships are over, the tower will become abandoned. And I still have the keys." He waved a large ring of keys. "Now, go carry out your duties. Meeting adjourned."

* * *

Meanwhile, in an area fairly distant from Mount Battle, Airina settled down in front of Growlithe and Marcia. Marcia let her pokemon out who settled down in various places. Shelgon sat as close to Growlithe as she could, much to his discomfort. Lombre climbed onto Tropius so he could get a better view over the tall grass.

"Growlithe," Airina began, "it is not by pure coincidence that we met again today. It was planned that we would meet today, albeit in better circumstances. The group that you are currently working for, the Resistance, arranged for you to meet me in Agate village."

Growlithe looked surprised, but kept quiet, unable to think of what to say. What was he to say? He had thought that she was dead, but now, she was alive. After a few moments he said, "how are you actually here? I saw you get ripped to shreds by that mad man's pokemon. How did you survive that?"

"Growlithe, there is a lot I need to explain to you," Airina responded. "Get comfortable because, this is a long story." All of them adjusted their positions to make themselves as comfortable as possible.

"It began a few years ago. I was a Swablu living in the jungle around the abundant shrine in Unova. However, my life was not a happy one. Every day, I had to deal with the various predators that lived in the area. On one occasion, a Floatzel managed to shoot me down with a water gun. Sadly, due to the sponge-like nature of my wings, I became unable to fly. So, I plunged into the jaws of the Floatzel.

"Luckily for me, just as the Floatzel was about to bite down on me, it was attacked by a bolt of electricity, shot by an Eelectrik. The Floatzel spat me out into the river and a floated down a little ways, unable to react from shock (possibly due to the electricity), until I ended up in a pair of hands. Human hands.

"Perhaps I was still delirious from the shock, but I didn't feel in danger, despite the warnings my mother had told me (when I was young) about humans. The Eelectrik from earlier was now by the side of the trainer. 'You're in safe hands, now,' he had said, in a calm, soothing voice. And then, I passed out.

"For a few days, the trainer, who was named, 'Max', looked after me, keeping me safe and nursing me back to health. I became close to him and managed to form a psychic connection with him, so that I could talk to him. I also got to know his team; the Eelectrik was known as 'Miles' and he loved tea. There was also a Samurott called 'Aquis' who was Max's starter and she was never more than a few feet away from him. An Audino called 'Missy' kept me company most during my time with the team. A Sandslash named 'Richmond' seemed to keep his distance from me most of the time. And of course, the final member of the team was your mother, 'Spice'."

"My mother's name was 'Spice'." Growlithe said, happy to finally know his mother's name. His brain was flashing with all sorts of memories of his old trainer's party.

"Indeed," Airina continued. "Spice was strong and brave. Much like you have become. I am willing to say that Spice was the strongest in the party. However, she preferred her own company to the company of others.

"After the few days were up and I was much better, Max explained that he had to leave the abundant shrine. He said he had to go to a place called the pokemon league and fight there to become the champion. If he was able to beat the current champion, he would be become the champion. However, he offered me a place on the team since he had a free space.

"It didn't take me long to decide that becoming part of the team would be better than staying where I was, as a wild pokemon. So, I joined him.

"So we travelled to the pokemon league and I saw so many amazing things along the way. I even evolved to become the Altaria I am today. Eventually, we reached the league where we battled many opponents in a knock out challenge to get a chance to face the elite four members and, ultimately, the league champion.

"Between us, against all odds, we managed to defeat all the competitors in the knock out tournament and reach the final (which wasn't really a final because, we still had the elite four and champion remaining). Our competition was against a man named Alder. He had been determined to become the champion that year. He had red, spiky hair and dressed in a costume that would have been fitting in oriental Ransei. He was a tough competitor, but in the end, we worked together and won.

"Although, the elite four and the champion were probably the hardest battles I've been through, under the strategical mind of Max, we managed to pull through. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. However, Max decided not to accept the title and responsibilities of the champion-a common choice for young champions-and instead, decided to take on other leagues.

"So, we travelled to the far off region of Johto. We must've spent a good two years there. Although your mother was partially to blame. While we travelled the Johto region, Max took it upon himself to battle team Cipher, who, at the time, were trying to take root in Johto.

"Because of this, Spice met an Arcanine called Fairan. Although he had no trainer, he could hardly be described as wild. In fact, he was a member of an organised group of pokemon trying to help defeat Cipher at the time. It would later come to be known as 'the Resistance'."

"Why is it called 'the Resistance'?" Growlithe asked. "It's not like Cipher are in control or anything like that."

Airina rubbed her wing against her head. "I'm not sure," she answered, "you'd have to take it up with the leader. Anyway, Fairan was able to do something that no pokemon had been able to do before; make Spice come out of her shell."

"Wait a minute," Growlithe said, putting the pieces together, "is this 'Fairan' my father?"

"You caught on fast," Airina replied. "Indeed he is your father. And if you're wondering, he is still alive, although, he is currently busy, on a mission in Johto."

"Wow," Growlithe exclaimed, "I would really like to meet him someday."

"Maybe you will," Airina said, "now, Fairan was how both your mother and I got involved with the Resistance and Fairan would appear from time to time to deliver messages and commands that the leader had sent, which we relayed to Max.

"Your mother and Fairan eventually fell in love, unsurprisingly, and Spice became pregnant. A few months later, she gave birth to an egg. Fairan wished he could have stayed there to look after the egg, but he knew that it was in safe hands with Max. Furthermore, he still had a lot to do with the Resistance. Soon after the egg arrived, it hatched and you were born.

"You were a very quiet and shy child, not playful and adventurous like most children. I still remember that time on Cianwood island, when you were swept out to sea. I had to dive in and rescue you." She chuckled at the memory.

"I remember that too," Growlithe said, uncertainly.

"But," Airina said, looking upwards, wistfully, "the happiness and innocence was soon lost. It was just a few weeks ago when it happened. Max received a message from Jasmine, gym leader of Olivine city, saying that she wanted to meet him at the top of Olivine lighthouse. I should have seen it before, but I didn't notice. It was because of me that they died.

"So we travelled up to the top of the lighthouse, Max wondering why Jasmine wanted to see him again. Spice was the one who was suspicious. She wondered why there was no light at the top of the lighthouse, despite it being night time.

"When we reached the top of the lighthouse, we were surprised to find Jasmine and her Ampharos tied up. I'm sure you remember the rest."

"The team got shot so that they were injured, including you, and were then ripped to shreds by the mad man's pokemon. Then he killed Max and finally my mother who had just managed to push me out of a window," Growlithe recalled.

"There are some details that you are currently missing," Airina said, looking directly at Growlithe. "Your mother and I were given orders by the Resistance if it looked as though we would die. Your mother was told to inform you of the catalyst so you could be sent off to find it as well as insure your safety and I was ordered to get out of the danger, no matter what.

"The reason I survived was because, I created a substitute as soon as I realised how much danger we were in." Airina looked close to tears. "I fled the scene without trying to save the others. I was a coward. I've fought so many battles, but in the end, I ran away."

Growlithe walked over and put a paw on her to comfort her. "It wasn't your fault, you were just following orders."

"Even so," Airina said, a tear running down her cheek, "I could have done something." She regained composure. "And that is why I must help you. To repay for my sins. Anyway, I hope you gained some insight into what you have been thrown into."

"It is good to understand a bit more about what I'm doing," Growlithe said. "Thank you for telling me. You mentioned the catalyst. Do we have an update on the whereabouts of it?"

"Yes," Airina said, "but it's not good news. Cipher have got it." Growlithe gasped. "They are using it to build some sort of machine which will give a human power over shadow aura. We are going back to the main base to get orders on what to do next. Which, I'm afraid means, you are going to have to say goodbye to your friends."

"Wait!" Growlithe exclaimed. "Why do I have to say goodbye to my friends?"

"Because they have their own things that they have to do," Airina answered, "and I'm not sure if anyone would appreciate a human being in our base."

"But...but I don't want to leave them," Growlithe said, biting back the tears. "I'd rather stay with them. They have done so much for me."

Before Airina could argue any further, Marcia spoke up. "Growlithe, I know how much you have wanted to live a normal life like any other trained pokemon. But this is something more important. You have to do this for your mother."

"Yeah," Tropius said, "and anyway, there will always be a place for you on our team. Just come back once you've defeated Cipher."

Growlithe smiled for a second, then looked sad again and said, "But what if you die? Or I die? Then what will happen?"

Shelgon giggled. "Us die? You think we will die? After everything we've been through today? In any case, we have some new team members who will be able to help us."

"And you appear to be in quite capable hands," Lombre said, gesturing to Airina, "not to mention how strong you are now."

"Thanks guys," Growlithe sniffled, now in happiness. "You are great friends. I promise I'll return."

"And we promise to wait for you," Marcia replied.

"Oh, and Growlithe," Shelgon said, "if ever you want a bit of 'fun' again, I'll be waiting." Growlithe groaned.

Airina looked at him. "Wait. You didn't...did you?"

Growlithe sighed, "It's a long and ridiculous story. I'll explain later."

"Well in that case," Airina said, "shall we get going then? Climb on."

Growlithe climbed onto Airina's back. "Three girls in one day, Growlithe," Shelgon said cheekily, causing Airina to look at him sternly again. Growlithe sweat-dropped.

Airina flew up so the she was hovering above the tall grass. "Goodbye everyone!" Growlithe shouted.

"Goodbye!" Marcia, Tropius, Lombre and Shelgon returned in unison. Then Airina took off into the dusk sky.

* * *

Wes awoke in his double bed. Light seeped in through the curtains. He groaned and gradually swung himself out of his bed. He opened the curtains to see the sun was high above Castelia city. He looked at the crowds of people marching up and down the busy streets. He rubbed his hand through his spiky, silver hair.

A ginger haired girl with pig-tails, wearing a purple top with a blue jacket above it and a white skirt. "Good morning sleepy head," she said with a soft voice. She looked at her watch. "Or should I say, 'good afternoon'? It's one o'clock. I made breakfast though." She handed him a plate containing a cooked breakfast. "I'm afraid it's cold though. Do you want me to heat it up?"

"Mornin', Rui," Wes mumbled, taking the plate and using his hands to scoop the contents into his mouth. "How much did I drink last night?" he said between mouthfuls.

"Quite a bit," Rui said hesitantly, "but it was a party. It doesn't matter. Plus, you slept like a baby. I didn't want to disturb you when I got up."

"I'm not going to do that again for a while," Wes pledged.

"Drink heavily or sleep like a baby?"

"Drink heavily."

"Oh right."

An Espeon and an Umbreon came running into the room and looked up at Wes. "Hello!" they said.

"Hello, Espeon and Umbreon." Wes replied, starting to wake up properly. He walked over to Rui and kissed her.

"Go brush your teeth, mister," Rui commanded, "your breath stinks. Oh, and while you're at it, I heard your PDA ring earlier. Go check it. It might be my Grandfather."

"Just as long as it isn't my Dad," Wes said, rolling his eyes. "You know what he's like."

"You should really give him a chance, Wes," Rui said.

"But he's just a pokemon thief," Wes replied.

"So were you when I met you," Rui lectured. "If it wasn't for me, you might have used that snag machine to steal more pokemon."

"Seriously," Wes said, "I left team Snagem when I found out about their involvement with Cipher and shadow pokemon. I took the snag machine so they couldn't use it."

"Yes, but I didn't know that. I still accepted you."

"Fine," Wes said. "If it's my father, I'll give him a call. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, sweetie," Rui answered. She pulled him close and kissed him. Wes noted that she avoided his mouth.

She let him go after a few moments and Wes left to check his PDA. As he entered the lounge of the apartment they had rented whilst exploring Unova, a small white creature, with wings and red and blue triangles all over it's egg-shaped body, landed on his head. "Hello, Togetic," Wes said to it. It said nothing, but instead, chirped in reply.

Wes checked his messages on his PDA. He found there was a voice-mail message and sighed as he found it was from his father. Remembering what he had said to Rui, he played the message: _"Wes, it's me, Gonzap. I don't know where you are, but you're needed in Orre. Cipher are up to something and I think the repercussions could be disastrous. Get to Orre as soon as you can."_


	10. Mana seer

Unlike the earlier flights on Tropius, the flight to the Resistance headquarters was a much smoother journey. Growlithe explained everything about his journey, so far, to Airina, including what Shelgon had said, and now they were landing on a river bank in a valley. Next to the river bank was a large cliff and far south, lights were just visible. The familiar lights of Pyrite.

By this time, it was pretty much pitch black. Growlithe formed an ember so that Airina could see. "There should be a cave in the side of this cliff," she said, scanning the side of the hill. "Aha!" she exclaimed, pointing to a reasonably sized hole in the cliff face. "There it is."

The duo entered the cave and immediately began descending a steep slope. Growlithe was having a hard time descending, due to the lack of light and large amount of hazards. Meanwhile, Airina was having no trouble at all with the slope, despite the lack of flying space, since she had been down it many times.

At the bottom of the slope, they found themselves in a large tunnel. Even with Growlithe's fire, very little was visible. Growlithe was just able to make out the wall on the other side. On the ground, strips of metal and wood were visible in places; the reminisce of a train track. "This was once a mineshaft used by humans," Airina explained. "They mined rare ores from the town of Pyrite and transported them via mine cart. This tunnel was an access path to the village of Hydrote, who often traded for various goods in exchange for the crops which they farmed. The soil there was the most fertile soil in Orre."

"Wait a minute," Growlithe interrupted, "I didn't see a village anywhere near there. Where is it?"

"That's the thing," Airina answered, "nobody really knows what happened. One day the town was thriving, the next, it was gone. Not a trace of it was left. It was as if no one had ever been there."

"Wow," Growlithe said, a hint of fear in his voice, "there's something out there powerful enough to destroy a town without leaving a trace. What could do such a thing?"

"Too be honest, nobody has any idea," Airina said. "Some say it's haunted, but everyone knows that ghosts are pranksters, not evil beings. And even if they were evil, no ghost could decimate a town without leaving some sort of destruction, even Giratina. The only being strong enough to do that sort of thing would be Arceus, but even he would have been unable to do such a thing as that at the time."

"You don't think that whatever being did this is still around, do you?" Growlithe asked, looking scared.

"Nonsense, Growlithe," Airina said, busting out laughing, which echoed in the tunnel. "Whatever being that did this left long ago. Most likely it left after the destruction of the town. This tunnel was closed off and caved in after that though. You know how paranoid humans can get."

"Caved in?" Growlithe queried. "How can we get through the tunnel if it is blocked?"

"Simple," Airina said, "when the Resistance formed, they made their place in the central hub of the mine; an abandoned human settlement known as 'The Under'. Although, when they got to the Under, all the tunnels were blocked off, the place was perfect, due to the spiral network of passages across western Orre. So, strong pokemon cleared the rocks and built new supports, to ensure the safety of the tunnel."

By this time, the duo had made it a fair distance down the tunnel. Growlithe could hear the sound of rushing water. It was close. "Try and stick to the tracks," Airina said, "we are about to cross a bridge over an underground river and I don't want to have to fish you out of it in the dark."

Growlithe found himself walking on rickety wooden planks now. He felt as though Airina may end up having to fish him out anyway. About half-way across the bridge, a plank snapped underfoot and the wood plunged into the black depths below. Growlithe took his steps with more caution from then until he reached the end of the bridge. "I really must ask someone to fix that bridge, at some point," Airina commented, "it is not so much a concern for me as it is for ground based pokemon."

The rest of the journey was spent, mostly in silence. Eventually, the tunnels began to feel more even under Growlithe's foot. Soon afterwards, light became visible in the distance. Old miner's lamps were hung on the walls. Further on, the tunnel opened out into a much larger cavern. As they reached that part of the tunnel, Airina was greeted by a Machoke who was hammering some nails into a tunnel support that looked lose. "Good evening Airina," he said, "I see you have brought the hero into our midst. You are much later than we anticipated, but I'm sure that can be forgiven thanks to your heroic antics at Mount Battle."

"Good evening to you, Forst," Airina replied, "I'm sorry for the lateness, but I couldn't do nothing. In any case, I met our hero at Mount Battle anyway. Speaking of which, say hello to our hero, Growlithe."

The Machoke, Forst, gasped. "He has no name! I am so glad I never had a trainer."

"Do not blame Max," Airina said defensively. "He tried to think of a good name, but never got the chance since, now he's dead."

"It is a mighty shame. Still, once the catalyst is secured, we can hold a naming ceremony for him." Forst greeted Growlithe. "Welcome, hero. Reviver of Arceus."

"Hi," Growlithe said, "nice to meet you." He paused, mulling over what Forst had said. "Wait a minute. Reviver of ARCEUS!"

Forst looked at him. "I believe that is something our leader will explain to you." With that, Forst went back to his hammering. Growlithe and Airina started walking into the large cavern.

Airina turned around and shouted, "By the way, the bridge in that tunnel could really use repairs!"

"Okay, I'll get right on it!" Forst shouted back.

The cavern they had entered was massive. They were walking down a metal walkway. On one side, the cavern wall loomed and on the other side, rows of buildings stood. Growlithe stared in awe at the Under. Near the center of the town stood a spherical building that Growlithe could only assume was the colosseum (or once was). Beyond that, a large chasm split the town in half, bridges allowing crossing to the rest of the town. Street lights were on all of the pathways and the buildings were made of grey brick. Despite it looking human-made, the only creatures around were various pokemon.

Airina pointed out the colosseum. "That's exactly were we are heading."

It didn't take them too long to reach it, but a large crowd of pokemon were following them by the time they reached the colosseum. A Honchkrow flew out of the colosseum entrance and scanned Airina and Growlithe. "I believe you are here to see the master," he said, looking at the crowd behind them. "Come right in. Oh and the rest of you, go away!" The crowd dispersed, just like that.

"I see you're in as cheerful a mood as always, Donovan," Airina said, sarcasticly.

He let out a grunt. "Why would I be in a happy mood? We lost the bloody catalyst!"

"Maybe so, but we did get the hero," Airina replied.

Donovan grimaced. "Yeah, the very young hero who will have to blast through all of the defences that Cipher have on their main base. Which we still have no idea where it is."

Airina said nothing. Growlithe became worried. Donovan showed them through the colosseum lobby, down a set of stairs and into a square room. On the back wall of the room were a number of TV screens, some of which were switched on. A large, black chair was parked in front of the screens. Donovan cleared his throat. "Master, Airina and the hero have arrived."

The chair turned around to reveal a small white pokemon with a large yellow hat, in the shape of three triangles, pointing up, left and right, respectively, and converging in the middle. On each triangle point, a green tag hung loosely. Two yellow strips hung from the pokemon's back. A third eye was settled in it's stomach which was closed. "Nice to meet you, hero," the pokemon said cheerfully. "My name is Jirachi Mana-seer. However, most folks just call me Jirachi, or in Donovan's case, master. But I don't like being called 'master'. It makes it sound like he's my servant or something."

"Hello, err, Jirachi," Growlithe said, timidly.

"Good to see you again, Jirachi," Airina said. "Sorry for the hold up. It was insane out at Mount Battle."

"Do not worry about it one bit, Airina," Jirachi said, reassuringly, "Cipher were defeated, giving them one less weapon to use. I just wish we could have known in time to help."

"Hold on a sec'," Growlithe said, "but you're Jirachi. You're a psychic, a wish maker and a legendary pokemon. How come you didn't know in advance?"

"You dare insult the master?" Donovan said, raising his voice.

"Donovan, please," Jirachi said, "he does not mean to insult me." She turned to Growlithe. "I was once a very powerful psychic, as you said. However, in a terrible battle, I lost most of my power. My precognitive abilities were among that which I lost. Even my ability to levitate was lost. As you can see from my body, I'm not designed for walking. My foe was incredibly powerful and-"

"Err-master, you don't need to go into that story," Donovan interjected. Everyone turned towards him. "What I mean to say is that our guests are weary from today's events and could use some rest. We should probably just explain the important things now and leave the chit-chat for later."

Jirachi thought for a moment. "You're probably right, Donovan. Let's get down to the important stuff." Jirachi put on a serious face. It lasted about five seconds before she broke out in laughter. "Well, I tried to be serious. That didn't work too well." Donovan sighed.

"Growlithe. So far, you know that you are a hero, of sorts, and that you must obtain the catalyst, or as it has now been dubbed; 'the God catalyst'. How much more do you know?"

"Only that people think of me as 'the reviver of Arceus', whatever that means," Growlithe replied.

"Well then, let me explain your role in the Resistance. It starts just after the beginning of the world. After creating pokemon and humans, Arceus began to relax and channelled the majority of his power into the world to keep it a perfect place. For a time, everything prospered. Arceus left the legendary pokemon in charge of the world, since he barely had enough power to sustain himself. Quite where he lived, no one knows. Most people suspect that he made his home on a far distant world, or, more likely, in heaven.

"However, all good things must come to an end. Quite why, no one knows, but Mew went to Arceus' lair and used a device known as a 'soul ball' on him. A soul ball is used to, quite literally, suck the soul out of a body. The God catalyst is not a portion of Arceus' powers. It IS Arceus!"

Growlithe gasped. "So that means that Cipher have enough power to completely obliterate the universe!"

"Not exactly," Jirachi replied. "Since much of Arceus' power has been put into the world and Arceus requires his own body to get full power, they only have a fraction of Arceus' power. However, this is still very formidable. Someone with that power could erase a person from existence! Then absorb their soul, granting the user more power!"

"Hold on," Growlithe said, "surely if all of the legendaries gathered together, they could easily defeat Mew."

"Indeed," Jirachi said, "that is exactly what we did. However, with the God catalyst, Mew was far too powerful, for us all. She used it to seal away many of us in various dimensions. Others, she used soul balls on. The rest, such as myself, ran away.

"I do not know what happened after that. Mew must have lost the God catalyst somehow, but we do not know how. Whether or not Mew is searching for it, the only way to make the world safe is to resurrect Arceus."

"I think I understand everything now. Except why I am necessary for all of this," Growlithe commented.

"You are necessary, Growlithe," Jirachi said, "because the catalyst holds a great deal of power. Power that can only be held by pokemon who are gifted with something special in their hearts. If any ordinary pokemon came in contact with the catalyst, they would become corrupted, over-come with madness or they would instantly drop dead. Humans are more capable of holding such objects due to the way Arceus created them, but pokemon are unable to do such a thing. Except, the legendaries and a few gifted pokemon. You are such a pokemon. You hold the purity that rarely any pokemon, even young children, hold. Because of this, you are able to safely handle the catalyst."

"So that is why I'm on this quest..." Growlithe trailed off.

"I would have gone after it ages ago," Jirachi said, "but sadly, in a body like this, movement is only possible with levitation." Donovan had a guilty look in his eyes. "Any other questions?"

"Just one," Growlithe replied, "why is this organisation called 'the Resistance'?"

"Well," Jirachi said, "we are resisting many things; Cipher, Mew, even our own temptations. Plus, it's the name of one of my favourite music group's albums; Mews. Anyway, you must be tired. Donovan will set you up in a room in the colosseum. We'll work out our next move and inform you tomorrow."

"This way please, hero," Donovan said. He led Growlithe through the colosseum basement. They reached a series of rooms, some of which were occupied by pokemon. Donovan showed Growlithe into an empty one and bid him goodnight. The room was small and had no door, since many pokemon can't open doors. There was a bed in one corner which Growlithe promptly hopped onto, curled up on and fell fast asleep.

* * *

"So, what did you think?"

"He sure is shy, don't you think."

Airina gave Jirachi an odd look. "Well of course he's shy. Fairan told you about his mother."

"Yes, he did," Jirachi replied, "but he doesn't look like a hero at present. He doesn't even have a name."

"From what I saw on Mount Battle, he is very faithful to his friends. He fought bravely, even overcoming air sickness quickly."

"But will he fight as faithfully for us?" Jirachi asked.

"Of course he will," Airina said, defensively. "He understands the importance of the mission and he would not want to let any of us down."

"What if Growlithe finds out just how many people know about the catalyst? The number of people who are willing to do terrible deeds for one touch? What if this 'Marcia' gets caught by one of these people? Do you think, for even a second, that Growlithe will be willing to continue the mission if he knows he is killing his friends?"

Airina said nothing, unable to answer for her friend. "That's what I thought," Jirachi said, after a few moments of silence. "And what about Giratina? You know just how much she could use the catalyst for her own deeds."

"Giratina was resealed in the distortion world, though," Airina replied.

"You and I both know that Giratina has her own ways of slipping into this world. All it takes is a weak mind. And if she does get the catalyst, there will be no hope for the world. Without Arceus, Giratina will be free to do as she pleases and we all know what that is."

"Growlithe will have me to fight alongside him. He will have our entire army with him if necessary."

"Whatever you think, Airina," Jirachi said grimly, "Growlithe will have to do this alone. In the end, he will have to carry out his true destiny alone."

"How can you be sure of that Jirachi?" Airina said, raising her voice, "you cannot see the future at all. Unless...you're completely faking your injuries!"

"You're really gonna stoop to that level," Jirachi whispered, coldly. "Airina, can't you trust me? I'm the only friend you really have. After the death of your trainer and your team mates, you had no one. Even now, you try and avoid the friendliness of the Resistance members."

"I still have Growlithe!" Airina shouted. "Or does he not count because you think he'll end up alone."

"I know he'll end up alone. You are one of the few people who know what his true destiny is. His destiny has already been set by powers, higher than me. But he's not the only one who will end up alone-" Jirachi cut herself off mid-sentence. She was staring right at the doorway. "We are not alone."

Airina turned to the doorway and caught a brief glimpse of a yellow tail. She knew exactly who it was. "Just go, Airina," Jirachi said, "clearly you do not understand quite as much as I thought." Airina turned her back on Jirachi and flew out of the door. Half-way down the corridor, she saw Donovan. She silently sighed with relief when he did not attempt to make conversation.

* * *

Growlithe awoke the next morning to the sound of various voices nearby. He climbed off of his bed and peaked out of the door. Several pokemon were milling about talking to each other. When they saw Growlithe, they greeted him. "Hey, hero," a Seviper hissed, "no need to be on your own, come and join us."

Growlithe walked over, cautiously, to a group of three pokemon consisting of a Seviper, a Gallade and an Alakazam. "What's going on?" he asked.

"There's going to be a big announcement very soon," the Alakazam moaned. "It sounds like more bad news."

"It's always bad news these days," the Gallade said, "well, except when we found out that our hero was okay."

"I wonder if we will have to battle team Ccccipher," the Seviper hissed. "They've had it coming a long time."

"Aha," a voice shouted from down the hallway, "there you are Growlithe."

Growlithe turned to see Airina flying down the corridor towards him. "Good morning, Airina." Growlithe said with a smile.

"Hello Growlithe," came the reply, however, without a smile. "We are meeting Jirachi in the conference room. We should get going." She turned to the group of pokemon. "As should you."

The five of them went together to the conference room, which was also located in the basement of the colosseum.

The conference room was a large, square room with a circular table in the middle. Various pokemon sat around it. Jirachi gestured for them to come over, showing no signs of the argument that had ensued the night before. Growlithe took a seat on Jirachi's left. Airina sat next to him. On Jirachi's right, Donovan sat, eyes glancing around the room.

Next to him sat a Braviary who wore goggles on his fore-head. He was known as 'Storm' and was capable of sweeping masses of enemies into the air at once. He was the head of the Resistance air force. Next to him was a Magnezone called 'Circuit'. Although Circuit technically had no gender, most thought of her as a female. She was a mechanic in-charge of the electronics inside the Under. Beyond her, a blue quadruped with white 'chest' hair, lightning shaped antlers and a cavalier hat on his head with a large feather in it. His name was Cobalion and he was the leader of the musketeer quartet of legendaries. His fighting skills could not even be matched by the Gallade next to him (who was in the group talking to Growlithe earlier). Gallade, known as 'Xiphos' was the head of the swords pokemon of the Resistance. His two blades were longer and sharper than normal.

Perfectly opposite Jirachi was a Kecleon. Unlike standard Kecleons, this one had a black colouring, however, it still had the red, zig-zag around it's stomach. It also had a belt around it's waist, attached to a scabbard containing a small knife. No-one knew her name, but she had been dubbed 'the Shade' for her work in the shadows, spying on Cipher. Two her right, an Abomasnow named 'Wintarn' sat. He was in charge of pokemon who use the weather to their advantage. Next to him, a Lucario sat, or rather, floated, cross-legged, with her eyes closed. Her name was 'Aureola' and she led the aura guardians in the Resistance. She sat next to the Alakazam from earlier who led a team of psychics and was known as 'Crystal'. Beyond her and next to Airina, the Serviper sat. She was known as 'Pythos' and had a number of serpentine pokemon under her leadership.

"Welcome my friends, to the Resistance high council," Jirachi said, turning to face each member. "You may be wondering why I have called this meeting at such short notice. We have received word from a number of our agents-courtesy of Shade-that Cipher are planning an attack on Agate village."

Nearly every member of the council gasped. Even Aureola opened her eyes in shock, something that rarely happened. There was a few seconds of silence, then Circuit said, "But what could Cipher want with Agate village?"

"Isn't it obvious," Wintarn replied, "they want to destroy the relic stone so that their shadow pokemon can't be purified."

"Indeed," Crystal said, "I feared that they may do this." She turned to Jirachi. "How big is the attack force, Jirachi?"

"It is an entire fleet of Cipher's ships," Jirachi answered, "but they are not just any old ships. These ships belong to the admin, Stephanie."

"She is young," Xiphos said confidently, "there is no concern. We can easily deal with her."

"Never underestimate your opponent, Xiphos," Cobalion said.

"That's right, Cobalion," Jirachi said. "Stephanie may be young, but she is Cipher's best mechanic, considering that Gorigan is a complete idiot. Her ships are armed with incredibly strong fire power and have tough armour. Beating them will be difficult."

"However," Aureola said, suddenly, "unlike the other Cipher admins, Stephanie's aura is not a dark purple." Everyone looked at her, dumbfounded. "What I mean is that unlike the other admins, Stephanie is not pure evil. She is most certainly a troubled child, but she seems to work for Cipher just because her mother wants her to. She has no shadow pokemon whatsoever."

"Even so," Storm said, "she is an enemy of us and we can't have pity on her just because she is redeemable."

"That's not what I am suggesting," Aureola said. "I'm suggesting that we send a large force to scare her away. If we show her our power, she may surrender, since she is more likely to be concerned of the lives of her team mates. We would just need to distract her with some of our weaker forces. Such as yours, Storm."

Storm growled with anger, but before he could say anything, Jirachi interjected. "Aureola, you may be on to something there. While Storm's forces are not weak, like you say, they are the best for use in distracting Cipher's air forces. Meanwhile, I want your own forces and Xiphos' forces, as well as the musketeers," she nodded at Cobalion, who nodded back, "to go to the the relic stone and guard it. Growlithe, Airina. We need a fail-safe plan, so I want you to go with the forces and, if the worst comes to the worst, remove the tablet from the relic fragment. You should be able to slip away, unnoticed."

The six pokemon gave their agreement to this plan, then got up and left. Jirachi turned to Crystal. "I want your psychics to keep searching for Arceus' body. If we can't find it, this whole thing is a complete waste of time. Circuit, I want you to keep trying to find a way to shut down the lab. Wintarn, Pythos, you may have heard of a group known as team Snagem." The two gave silent nods. "A battalion of Cipher members are heading to their base in Elco canyon to wipe them out. I believe that Snagem have stolen a number of shadow pokemon. I want you to beat Cipher to Elco canyon and bring the shadow pokemon back here."

Each of the pokemon gave their nods of approval and left. "Donovan," Jirachi said, "you may leave now."

Donovan bowed and said, "Yes, master." He was not keen on leaving Jirachi with the Shade, but he knew that that was an order from Jirachi and he couldn't ignore it. Not after what happened to her.

Once Donovan had left, Jirachi pressed a button that was on a remote control she had. All the doors to the conference room swung shut. The Shade stared at Jirachi for a few seconds, then faded. Jirachi turned around, expecting the Kecleon to reappear behind her. She then felt something on her back and turned her head to see the Shade, her head over Jirachi's shoulder.

"I told you, you can't catch me," the Shade whispered in a low voice. "You're concerned about the hero, aren't you?"

"How do you know?" Jirachi asked.

"You're like a book, where everything written in big font," the Shade said. Jirachi stared at her. "Easy to read. I thought you were smart, even without your powers."

"Hmph, this isn't productive conversation, Shade," Jirachi said. "I need to talk to you about one of your 'spies'."

"Which one?" Shade asked.

"I don't know his name, but he's a Sandslash," Jirachi replied. "He was spying on a conversation that I was having earlier. I hope you didn't order him to do so."

"Is that so?" Shade asked, rhetorically. "I didn't order him to spy on you. If I had, he wouldn't have been noticed."

"You know I can detect your spies," Jirachi said, "even if they seem undetectable, there are tell-tale signs that they are there."

"You didn't seem to be able to detect me, though," the Shade said, mockingly.

"I knew you were invisible. That's all I need to know to be sure that they are there."

"Maybe so. Let's just hope that he discovered nothing that might ruin your reputation..." the Shade said, ominously.

"There is nothing to that can-" Jirachi began until she realised that the Shade was gone. She was left alone again.

Outside the room, the Shade reformed from the shadow she had created, so that she could get under the door. She was met by a Sandslash. "Were you listening?" She asked.

"I heard every word," the Sandslash replied.

"Good," the Shade said, "it seems that, thanks to your act, she suspects nothing. However, we must be careful."

"Of course," the Sandslash replied, "I am just concerned about Growlithe."

"As am I," the Shade replied, "as am I."


	11. Aerial ace

**Chapter 11 has arrived. It's a short one I'm afraid, but the next chapter should be much longer. I really wanted to get this up before I go on holiday.**

* * *

Storm's troops had mobilised quickly and left through a chasm which passed through the center of Pyrite. It was a good thing that it was early morning and everyone was too intoxicated to care or asleep, otherwise people may have gone to investigate a mass number of bird nests in the Under.

Meanwhile, Xiphos' troops, Aureola's guardians and the three musketeers (Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion), as well as Growlithe and Airina, were racing down the tunnel that led out to the place where Hydrote had once stood. The tunnel was much more well lit, due to the number of lamps and fire-types. Growlithe had noticed that the rickety bridge had been replaced by a much safer iron bridge. "Forst works fast," was all he said on the matter.

Once they had emerged from the tunnel, they were required to trek a far distance through the thick grass of the plains. They moved as quickly as they could. Few words were spoken by any of them throughout the journey. They prayed to Arceus that Storm's troops could survive long enough for them to get to Agate.

* * *

Stephanie sat in her chair on the bridge of her battleship; 'the Scar'. The ship was the largest in the fleet that she commanded. It was painted black and had a blue stripe around the hull. The bridge was a large building at the back of the ship. The command centre was located at the top of the bridge complete with a large window providing a view outside. Below, many peons milled about on the deck. The deck, itself was pretty bare, but below deck, large swivelling turrets stuck out of the hull. Their ammo was also located in the same room. Underneath that room, the engine room was located. The engine provided power to the thrusters at the bottom of the ship, which kept it in the air.

The command center was a room painted, mostly white. Stephanie's chair was located at the back of the room on an elevated platform. In front of her, two semi-circular rows of control panels were monitored by Cipher peons. A steering wheel was visible on one of the inner ring control panels.

The other ships in the fleet were similarly decorated, however, they all had Cipher's insignia on them. Stephanie had refused to have the insignia on her ship. She hated it. She hated Cipher, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Not since her mother was in charge. Sometimes she missed her father. Not often, but sometimes.

"Captain Stephanie," a voice interrupted her train of thought. It was a peon. He was young. Had she been normal, Stephanie might have been attracted to him. "We should be arriving at Agate within two hours."

"Good," Stephanie replied, "have all the troops be ready in one hour." She looked over at her second in command, Odan. Odan was not who she would choose as a vice captain. She was stuck with the grumpy old man because, her mother thought she needed babysitting. She was eighteen, she did not need a babysitter.

She sighed and pulled out her phone. She went onto her music and selected a MU2 album. She put her ear phones in and quickly nodded off to sleep.

* * *

Storm's forces arrived in Agate village within an hour of leaving Pyrite. Storm separated his forces into five groups. Four flew off to patrol the areas around Agate in the four compass directions. This was because, they had no idea which direction Cipher would come from. Each group had a pokemon capable of teleporting, to insure easy communication.

The fifth group stayed in Agate. It was only a small group, headed by Storm himself. The village was set into a small green hill. Grassy pathways led up the hill and around cottages, adorned with flowers. At the bottom of the village, a stream-shooting off from the nearby river-flowed out of a cave. Through the cave and on the other side of the village, the relic stone stood; a pillar of circular stones, piled up on top of each other, surrounded by a circular trench, filled with still water. The relic stone was on a circular base of stone bricks. Embedded in the middle of the relic stone was a stone plate. Text was written on the stone plate; 'Time heals all wounds, play the notes of mending and your heart will be purified.'

At the very top of the hill, a large tree grew. A house was built into the base of the tree. This house belonged to the village elder; 'Eagun'. Eagun had long, grey hair and a beard, nearly as long. He wore light grey and purple robes, a tradition for the elder of Agate village. Eagun had been sitting on his sofa, reading a detective novel. His wife, Beluh was upstairs. Eagun could hear a record playing upstairs. His Pikachu was fast asleep, beside him.

There was a knock at the door. Eagun put down his book and went to the door. His Pikachu roused and joined him. When he opened the door, he was shocked to see about ten flying types on the doorstep. The lead pokemon-well, he assumed so because, it was in front and wore some aviator goggles on it's head-spoke to him. Pikachu translated the words via their psychic connection.

"Pleased to meet you, my good man," the Braviary said, "my name is Storm. I am the commander of the flying forces of the group known as 'the Resistance'. I am here because we have received word of team Cipher planning an attack on the relic forest in an attempt to make purification, impossible."

Eagun, at first, had been stunned, however, when he heard the name, 'Cipher', he snapped out of it. "Pleased to meet you," he said, "it's too bad that this is not a good time for us to meet." He put out a hand in greeting. Storm took the hand in one wing and shook it. He wasn't keen on human contact, but he could see that this man was no threat to him. "We must thank you for coming to help us, even if it is more for the relic stone than our village."

"You're very welcome, old chap," Storm replied, "Our plan is for my flying forces to distract Cipher's goons long enough that our ground forces can arrive and set up enough defence in relic forest to frighten them off."

"Not to be rude," Eagun said, "but what if Cipher are not frightened by your troops?"

"Well, sir," the Braviary replied, "if they are not scared, we will defeat them with superior numbers and quality of troops. I fought many a battle in my home region of Albion."

"Ah, Albion," Eagun said, "I heard that it is presently under the control of a rich man who spends the majority of his time raising taxes and spending the money from the taxes."

"Some would say it's better than a fat, depressing man," Storm said, thoughtfully, "not me though. Our system is much worse than other regions."

"Anyway," Eagun concluded, "I wish you the best of luck in the upcoming battle. I will inform the villagers of the impending crisis." He closed the door and Storm turned around, leading his troops towards the relic stone.

Half an hour after this confrontation, Storm received contact from the group in the north. "We have spotted ships on the horizon," the messenger, a Sigilyph said.

"Contact the other groups and prepare for battle," Storm commanded. The Sigilyph attempted a salute, then teleported away. Storm gathered his own group and flew off towards the north.

* * *

Stephanie was awakened by Odan, shaking her arm. She took out her earphones so that she could hear him. "Ma'am, there appear to be troops belonging to the Resistance up ahead." Stephanie sat up straight. She looked out of the window at the front of the command centre. Sure enough, a large number of flying types, too organised to be wild, gather in front of her fleet.

Stephanie got out of her seat and walked up to the outer control panel. The helmswoman was staring intently at the flock of birds. "You can take a break," Stephanie said, "I'll take the helm for this battle." The helmswoman nodded and moved out of the way. Stephanie grasped the wheel. She considered spinning it for effect, but she knew it would set them off course.

Instead, she twisted the wheel to the right until they were parallel to the flock. She moved her mouth close to a microphone next to the wheel. "All troops," her voice echoed through the ship, "Ready, aim, FIRE!"

The cannons on the side of the ship fired. Large cannon balls rained down on Storm's troops, forcing them to break formation. The other battleships twisted into similar positions and began to fire. Stephanie looked behind her and said, "Hmm, Something's not quite right. Ah. Polly, come on out." She pressed a button on one of her pokeballs. All of the peons who didn't know her pokemon expected a Chatot to burst out. Instead, a Flygon emerged, spreading it's wings. "There, that's better."

"Do we have to spread such violence?" Polly asked, gazing upon the cannon fire.

"Indeed we do," Stephanie replied, "you know what mother is like."

"Yeah, I do," Polly said. "Ridiculous and violent."

"Sometimes you have to be violent to get what you want," Stephanie said, as she did a hard turn, starboard, to avoid an oncoming hyper beam. The ship would be able to withstand it, but Stephanie wanted to show off that it didn't even need to withstand it.

"If you have to be violent," the Flygon said, "it's not worth it."

Stephanie thought about this for a long moment. Then she noticed several pokemon diving towards the, seemingly, defenceless deck. She pressed a button on a control panel next to her, causing a series of turrets to emerge from the deck, firing upon the pokemon. "It may not be worth it," Stephanie said, "but fighting is a good way to unleash anger, that you have for people, on your enemies instead."

Outside the battleships, Storm's forces were fighting, valiantly. It didn't take them long to realise that the ships were pretty much impervious to their attacks and were controlled by skilled pilots (particularly the flag ship), who could easily outmanoeuvre those attacks. Already, heavy casualties had been taken, thanks to the power of the cannons. Storm decided to take a different approach.

He ordered a group of his troops to dive towards the deck of the nearest battleship. The peons on the deck gasped as they saw the flock and sent out their pokemon, in order to defeat the enemy. The pokemon began firing various attacks, but Storm's flock were easily able to manoeuvre out of the way of them. They smashed into the peons and their pokemon and sent them flying, over the side of the ship, each bird sending, at least, five peons to their doom.

They repeated this custom version of the sky drop attack until the deck was clear of peons. Next, they split into two smaller groups. One group made their way over to the door at the base of the bridge, which led to the engine room and the room where the cannons were controlled. They launched powerful attacks at it in an attempt to break it down. The other group flew up to the window of the command center, also unleashing attacks at it. The peons inside screamed as they noticed cracks appearing in the reinforced glass.

It did not take long for the window to shatter and various flying types to fly through, killing any Cipher member who got in their way. Others ran out of the room, heading towards the deck. However, as they reached the access door, it was ripped off it's hinges and went flying into the back wall, hitting several peons in the process. Those who avoided the door were in no better situation. A Dragonite stared at them as it charged a hyper beam in it's mouth. The peons attempted to scramble out of the way, but to no avail. The hyper beam singed the walls of the corridor, vaporized the peons and created a hole in the back wall.

The Dragonite, and it's team mates, made their way down a set of stairs and found themselves in the large room under the deck. The peons were too busy firing their cannons to notice the swarm of flying types until it was too late. The flying types unleashed wave after wave of attacks on the room until all of the peons were dead and the cannons, motionless.

Meanwhile, a Charizard made it's way to the engine room. When it entered, it fired a blast burn at the engine, causing it to burst into flame. The Charizard quickly flew out of the room and away from the ship. The other flying types did the same thing. Suddenly, the ship exploded, destroying any remaining peons on-board. The wreckage rained down upon the fields below.

Storm turned around to look at their work. "Looks like we're done here then," he said to his troops. "One down, four to go." He scanned the area to find their next target. "Hmm. The flagship appears to be the biggest problem here. Let us deal with it." And with that, they dove down towards the flagship.

Stephanie watched as one of her battleships exploded. Then, she watched a large group of the enemy flying towards her own ship, led by a Braviary who was, oddly enough, wearing aviator goggles. "That must be the leader of the force," Stephanie realised. Then she spoke into the microphone. "Aim for the Braviary with the cool eye-wear!"

The peons on the deck all aimed at the on-coming swarm, firing all sorts of projectiles and attacks. Stephanie kept one hand on the steering wheel as she franticly flip switches and pressed buttons with the other, to switch on as many automatic cannons as possible. They wouldn't do much damage, but they'd certainly weaken the swarm and keep them distracted from the heavier fire.

"Is the energy cannon ready?" Stephanie shouted over the noise of the battle outside.

"The cannon is completely charged and ready for use as soon as you want," a peon replied, looking at a computer screen, showing a cross-section of the ship.

"Then it is time to fire it." Stephanie looked over at a screen next to the steering wheel. She pressed a button, switching on the screen.

"No, not the energy cannon!" Polly said, looking horrified. Stephanie ignored her.

Outside, a triangular strip of metal opened up at the bottom of the prow. A huge cannon extended from it. Stephanie looked at the screen. The screen showed a view from outside. A green square, with a cross inside it, was visible on the screen. Just underneath, a small control pad was located. Stephanie used the control pad to move the square.

Odan watched, intrigued. He knew that Stephanie had spent many weeks on this weapon, but he'd never seen it in use-not that there had been any prior uses, bar testing. He needed to see it in action because, soon enough, the girl would find the battle too stressful and he'd be forced to take over. And if she didn't give up...Well-

"FIRE THE ENERGY CANNON!" Odan suddenly realised that he was missing the action. Stephanie pressed a large red button next to the control pad.

Storm watched as the large cannon aimed itself at his group and it started glowing with energy. "I recommend we all do a barrel roll," he said, keeping calm.

A Pidgeot looked at him. "You can't say that," it said.

"And why not?" Storm said, temper rising, fear kicking in.

"Because you're not a strange, white Buneary who flies in a spaceship."

"JUST GET OUT OF THE ARCEUSDAMNED WAY!" Storm screamed, slamming into the Pidgeot out of the aim of the cannon. And then, the cannon fired.

Storm could only watch as half of his group were vaporised by an amazing beam, which seemed to glow in every colour and no colours at the same time. Others were hit by the shock wave. Several were burnt from being too close to the intense energy.

Stephanie cackled with glee. Odan watched with awe. Polly covered her eyes and moaned about the pointless violence. The peons clapped and cheered.

However, the celebration was short lived. A peon monitoring a set of security cameras walked up to Stephanie. "Captain," she said, addressing the cackling young woman, formally, "I think you should see this."

Stephanie looked over at the screen. The Braviary was diving, alone, straight towards the command center, eyes burning with fury. Suicide. "Damn!" Stephanie cursed, "I didn't kill it." Then a cruel smile formed on her face. "Well then, let's see how he likes cannon fire."

All of the cannons attached to the bridge turned to face the diving Braviary and fired. Storm, fuelled by anger, dove straight into the cannon fire. He was so focused on his target that he barely noticed just how close the cannons came to hitting him. He automatically dodged each and every projectile with style. A cannon ball flew straight towards his face. He just rolled out of the way.

The crew in the command center were stunned when the Braviary collided, head first with the glass. The glass was strong enough to avoid any damage, but it still shook. The Braviary didn't react to the collision at all. He just flew back a bit-still dodging cannon fire-and prepared to take another run up (or fly up). Other pokemon noticed this and started to join in.

Stephanie stared, mouth agape. _"Is she about to crack?" _Odan thought, watching her intently.

Then she recovered from her state of shock. "Do we have enough energy to switch on the shields?" she asked.

"Just about," a peon replied, "but we'll be unable to use the energy cannon again."

"That's fine," Stephanie said. "Set shields to maximum power!" The ship became engulfed by an invisible force that pushed back everything around it. Storm flew straight into the shield and found himself flying away from the ship. He turned and looked upon the crew in the command center. Stephanie saw this and smiled ferociously, sticking her middle finger up at him.

"Everyone!" Storm shouted to his troops. "Fire your strongest attacks!" Waves of hyper beams, air slashes and all sorts of other powerful attacks blasted straight into the shield, doing absolutely nothing.

Storm looked upon the battleship one last time. "There is nothing else we can do," he said, sighing. "Let us hope that the ground troops are ready." He turned and flew away. The remaining troops did the same.

Stephanie watched with glee. "Looks like we won," she cackled, madly, "and now we have them right where we want them." A terrifying grin formed on her face. "Fire the torpedoes."

"Wait. What?" Polly cried. "But they're giving up. Why do we have to kill them?"

"Because," Stephanie said, "if they come back with reinforcements, they might be able to destroy our shields." Polly remained silent.

Cannons emerged from the bottom of the hull, firing torpedoes that looked on to the group of flying pokemon. Storm gasped as he saw them coming towards them. "Everyone," he exclaimed, "split up to minimize casualties!"

The group split up. Storm found himself being chased by a torpedo. "Bugger it all!" he shouted. He increased his speed as much as he could, then tucked his wings in, to reduce air resistance, and dove towards the ground. The torpedo was still faster than him.

Storm reached the ground before the torpedo reached him. He arced upwards at the last second, hoping that the torpedo would hit the ground. Much to his surprise, it didn't. Storm looked back at the torpedo. He was tired now and unable to fly as fast. The torpedo seemed to be able to perfectly follow his flight-path.

While he wasn't looking, Storm flew into a tree. He lost all control to his body and fell straight to the ground. He stared at the torpedo as it shot towards him.

And then, a white and green pokemon appeared in front of him. Storm cried out in warning at the pokemon. It turned around, looked at the torpedo and threw up a protect around them. The torpedo harmlessly exploded on the shield. The Gallade turned to storm. "Xiphos," Storm said.

"Indeed," the Gallade said. "I came to inform you that we are in Agate."

Storm looked upwards. Xiphos followed his gaze. They were looking at the large, black flagship, heading south. Storm turned to Xiphos and said, "I hope you're ready for one hell of a battle."

* * *

**Next time, the true battle begins. However, I'm going away for two weeks and will be unable to write any chapters. Until next time, adieu.**


	12. Fight amongst the trees

**Sorry, it's been a lot longer than planned. To put it simply, I put this off for as long as possible. Then collage started again. Hopefully the next chapter will take less time. A lot less time.**

Growlithe looked up at the relic stone. He was stationed by it, alongside Airina and a selection of trained pokemon as well as Terrakion (the other two musketeers were stationed elsewhere in the forest). The pokemon were on edge, waiting for any sort of word from the front-line.

Suddenly, a series of pokemon medic-mostly aura guardians-ran through the clearing and into the cave leading into Agate. Each one carried a badly injured flying-type pokemon. Both Growlithe and Airina gasped when a Medicham ran past, carrying a battered and bruised Storm. One wing was bent the wrong way, a foot broken and cuts covered his body.

Airina glanced at Growlithe whose gaze was fixed on the injured Braviary as he was carried into the tunnel. "Storm is strong," Airina said, attempting to reassure Growlithe, "he'll live. And I'm sure he's inflicted heavy damage to the enemy." Airina didn't sound reassured herself.

Growlithe turned to face Airina directly. "I thought Storm had been through many battles," Growlithe replied, trembling. "If he's THAT injured, surely the enemy must be really strong."

Engines could be heard in the distance. They were faint, but close enough to sound threatening. "Storm and his troops are very much based around direct combat," Airina said, in a matter of fact way. "We have strategies based around defensive manoeuvres. We'll be able to survive."

Distant cries sounded. "But what if they are able to blast right through our defences? What do we do then?"

Airina looked into the sky. "Only time will tell."

* * *

Above the northern edge of the relic forest, four battleships loomed. Aboard the flagship, Stephanie looked at a screen, showing footage from a camera on the outside of the ship. The view showed an incredible mass of pokemon, standing still, just inside the forest. "Arceus damn, that's a lot of pokemon," Stephanie said, mouth agape, "and they're so well organised, they can't be wild...Can they?"

Odan kept his calm. The situation was pretty ridiculous, even he would admit that, but he had to keep calm to show that he was the better leader. "They are members of the Resistance," he said, without a hint of fear. "Whoever runs the Resistance must be a master over pokemon to command so many at once."

"This is just stupid!" Stephanie exclaimed. "We are killing innocent, brain-washed pokemon. Can't we just catch them, or something of that nature?"

_"Yes, she's starting to crack," _Odan thought. "We don't have the money or resources for that amount of snag machines," Odan said aloud, "and it doesn't help that the snag machine lorry and the decoy lorry got mixed up when we were attempting to get the God catalyst. Something which, I believe, was your fault."

"It was not my fault!" Stephanie shouted, lying. "I wasn't told which lorry was which." She looked at the screen again. "Holy shit! They have Cobalion!"

Much to Odan's joy, she started to tremble. "Cobalion," he said calmly, "then Virizion and Terrakion will undoubtedly be here as well."

Odan knew he had just pushed her over the edge. A sinister smile formed on his face. "They're legendaries!" Stephanie panicked. "Will our shields hold? They might turn the tide of battle! They might destroy the ship! I could die today!"

"We are ready for your orders, Captain," Odan said, trying not to laugh in triumph.

"Then we retreat," Stephanie said. "If we fight, we'll only end up dying and wasting good resources." Polly looked at her with a smile.

A huge smile formed on Odan's face. "Then I will take control of this vessel and all the others."

"WHAT!" Stephanie exclaimed, "on whose authority?"

"Your own mother," Odan said smugly. "She ordered me to take over if you did anything stupid."

Stephanie looked shocked. "My...own...mother. She doesn't trust me. She trusts a crooked old man more than she trusts her own daughter." She barely noticed as she was pinned down by two peons. A third grabbed her six pokeballs. Polly roared at the peons, but was immediately returned to her pokeball.

Odan cackled as he watched the display. "Tie her up in the captain's chair," he commanded, "so all can see what happens to fools."

Stephanie was defeated. She felt as though her life had been twisted upside-down. She had only tried to do well in Cipher because, she wanted her mother to love her. Something she had never experienced with her father. Now she knew that, once they got back to base (assuming they survived), Odan would ruin her chance and her mother would think of her as a disappointment. A mistake.

Meanwhile, Odan, who had got over his victory, looked around the bridge. His bridge. "Now that the coward is dealt with," Odan said with authority, pointing at the silent Stephanie, "it's time to deal with the enemy." He raised his arm, then brought it down. "OPEN FIRE!"

The pokemon below watched as the ships above fired them. None moved. They had been told to stay still. Cobalion turned to face the army. "Execute operation shield!" he commanded. A nearby pokemon started glowing with green energy. Other pokemon all over the forest started glowing with the same energy. A green dome formed, completely covering the forest.

Odan watched as the the projectiles exploded harmlessly on the dome. "Damn!" he cursed. "They have their own shield system."

Stephanie looked up. Seeing Odan was cursing, she regained a bit of humour. "Aww," she said patronisingly, "is poor Odan finding this harder than he thought? Don't expect me to help you out after what you've done to me."

"I don't need help," Odan retorted. "Unlike you, I have a back-up plan." He turned to his crew. "Land the ships! Attack the enemy directly and release the shadow pokemon!"

The four ships descended to the field below. As they landed, they sank into the long grass slightly. Peons made their way to the ladders on the sides of the ships. A section of the hull opened up releasing a large horde of shadow pokemon which charged toward the forest. Inside the command center, Stephanie was left completely alone apart from one, lone peon guard-the male peon from earlier.

* * *

On the ground, peons were beginning to fire their guns at the shield as their pokemon launched projectile attacks at it. The attacks all dissipated on the shield, but that didn't stop the peons and pokemon from trying to attack. The pokemon inside the shield returned fire with their own attacks. These ones did pass through the shield. Peons and pokemon fell, yet they came in an endless and overwhelming stream.

As Cipher reached the shield, they all stopped abruptly and stared at the shield, not noticing their allies falling. None of them moved. The shield could vaporise them, just like it vaporised their projectiles. Then, suddenly, a shadow Manectric ran through the group, snarling, and dived through the shield.

Much to the surprise of the others, it landed on the other side; safe (until it got battered by a large group of swords-pokemon). Seeing this, team Cipher charged forward, through the shield and engaged the Resistance in combat.

Cobalion was on the front-line of the Resistance pokemon. As the peons entered the shield, he took it upon himself to kill the peons so that any pokemon with a trainer would be left with no orders. He swung his head around, condemning a group of peons to his deathly-sharp horns. A peon screamed, seeing the oncoming horns, however, he did not have time to get out of the way and was, consequentially, sliced in half. Cobalion felt the blood trickle down his horns and grimaced. "It's been a while since my horns have tasted blood."

* * *

Meanwhile, Xiphos danced gracefully, jumping over a crowd of fighters, doing twists in the air, and landing, sword first, impaling a Houndoom. Several peons encompassed him, their own blades drawn. Xiphos raised his own blade and brought it down on one of the peon's helmets. The armor on the helmet shattered and Xiphos' blade recoiled. The peon cried out. Xiphos reached his blade behind the peon and pushed them with such force (likely with psychic help) that the peon flew straight into one of the other peon's blades, stabbing their stomach.

Another peon sneaked up behind Xiphos, however, the peon had not gone unnoticed. As they prepared to stab, Xiphos suddenly brought the flat of his blade down on the peon's hand, causing them to howl with pain. Xiphos took this opportunity to leap into the air and do a back-flip, swinging his blade in an arc which cut straight into the helmet. Taking the advantage caused by his helm-splitter, Xiphos ran forward and slashed the peon from the right shoulder to the left hip. A large gash was left, spewing out blood as the peon collapsed.

Four more peons charged towards Xiphos. Xiphos took up an attack stance, ready to engage with them, only for all four of them to fall forward into the dirt, one by one. Behind them, Aureola stood, about a foot off the ground, arms glowing with blue aura. "I could have easily dispatched them, you know," Xiphos said slightly annoyed.

"You can't do all the killing, you know," Aureola replied, "it does nothing good for your aura."

Xiphos stared at her. "I don't care about your aura mumbo-jumbo," the Gallade retorted. "All I need is sword skills and good, old-fashioned psychic power."

"Well, I bet your psychic power can't do this!" Aureola said, firing an aura sphere, seemingly towards Xiphos. Just before hitting Xiphos, it curved upwards, hitting a shadow Glaceon diving towards Xiphos. The aura sphere exploded, light aura pulsed out of it, engulfing the Glaceon. The shadow aura attempted to fight back, but to no avail. The Glaceon screeched and ran about as if it's body was on fire (which was what it looked like) until it eventually stopped moving.

Xiphos stared as the blue aura faded. Then he turned around and said, "No. My psychic power can't do that. It can do better." He focused on a shadow Magnezone behind Aureola. The Magnezone buzzed loudly, then exploded. "I just forced a Magnezone to commit suicide," Xiphos gloated. "It was even a shadow pokemon."

"That was nothing," Aureola said, not the least bit shocked, "you only destroyed one." She pointed to a large group of Electrodes heading their way. "I'll deal with this." Her body became engulfed with blue aura. The aura spread out, flowing from her. It reached the closest Electrodes and they exploded. The aura continued to spread through the group, detonating each one in turn, until they were all gone, leaving a large crater behind.

"Show off," was all Xiphos could say before he got caught up in another brawl. Aureola chuckled, then moved her hand behind her, firing an aura sphere at a Garbodor whose body began melting. Others began moving away, taking distaste to the burning rubbish smell. Even the shadow pokemon were put off.

* * *

Odan watched the battle from a fair way back. He had a second legion of peons guarding the ships to ensure the Resistance didn't try anything sneaky. They were also there so that when the the shield went down, they could bomb the rest of the battlefield. Odan was disappointed to see that the shield hadn't gone down yet.

A peon ran up to him from the forest. "What's the situation?" He asked.

"Not good," the peon replied, "They out-number us. They have incredible sword skill even though most of them are not naturally able to use swords. They also have aura guardians, rendering our shadow pokemon useless."

"Dammit!" Odan cursed. "I wasn't expecting it to be this difficult. Time to activate phase two. Let's see how they match up to the best swords-man, the seas have ever seen." He released all of his pokemon, then drew a cutlass from it's scabbard, attached to his waist. On the other side of his waist, another cutlass stayed sheaved. Odan looked in front of him at his six pokemon; A Garchomp, a Chatot, a Scyther, an Excadrill, a Bisharp and a snarling Kabutops. "Let's show them what an old sea-dog can do," Odan said to them. He turned to a large group of peons-all armed with strong melee weapons and wearing silver armour. "Come with me." He then sprinted off into the fray.

* * *

The pokemon generating the shield were unable to battle since all of their power was put into keeping the shield from failing. The design of the shield, for the most part, was based off of an aura technique, however, Cobalion had worked with Aureola to enhance the shield's limits. Meanwhile, Xiphos had arranged the troops in such a way that all of the shield generators were completely protected.

The generator pokemon were completely safe after the first waves of peons. For one, most of the peons were searching for some sort of generator. And those that did attempt to attack those pokemon were killed on the spot by one of several different types of attack. The way the shield worked even accounted for up to two generator pokemon becoming incapacitated. If any more than that became incapacitated though, the shield would fail.

For this reason, the three musketeers patrolled a third of the forest each. Cobalion, being the strongest, patrolled the north of the forest, where the main battle was happening. Virizion patrolled the eastern area and Terrakion, the western (including the relic stone in the south). Peons were just trickling into these parts of the forest, prompting the two respective musketeers to tighten their guards. Neither had much trouble since all they had to do was swing their horns around to slice up an entire group of peons. Their horns were just as potent as Cobalion's.

"I think I win this round!" Terrakion exclaimed in a booming voice, over the telepathic connection he shared with Virizion, as he sliced a Lairon in half with his bare horns.

Virizion turned around to see a group of Crustle heading his way. "Oh, I don't think you've won just yet," Virizion said in a rather effeminate way. He launched a magical leaf attack towards the Crustles. The leaves seemed to pass right through them. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, all of the Crustle began to shatter into many pieces.

"Ha," Terrakion chuckled, "it only counts if you use your swords!"

"In that case..." Virizion saw a Mamoswine charging towards him. He charged forward, lowering his head. As he reached the Mamoswine, he raised his head fast, hurling the Mamoswine into the air. Said Mamoswine landed on a group of peons. "How was that?" Virizion asked.

"It was okay, I guess," Terrakion said, vowing to remember to use that move at some point himself, "but to make a really good strike-"

"Brothers!" a voice exclaimed across the telepathic connection.

"Cobalion?" Virizion replied. "What's wrong? You sound distressed. You're never normally distressed, even in battle."

"We have a problem and I need your help," Cobalion said. "The enemy are more prepared for us than we first thought. Turns out that first wave was just to test our strength."

"Seriously!" Terrakion exclaimed. "And I thought Virizion was actually starting to fight like a true warrior," he joked.

"Hey!" Virizion shouted. "You can't say anything bad about my battle style. You keep stealing my awesome moves!"

"Stop arguing and come and help me!" Cobalion roared.

"Yes sir!" the other two replied in unison.

* * *

Xiphos was finding the peons much harder to beat now. He swung his sword at one peon, striking them squarely in the chest. His blade, however recoiled with a 'clang'. The peon retaliated with their own sword, swinging it in a horizontal swipe. Xiphos blocked with his blade and with the other, struck the hilt of the enemy's sword, causing it to fly out of the peon's hands.

The peon watched as their sword spun in the air. Xiphos took this opportunity to strike the peon again, harder than before, knocking them over. The sword came down and struck the peon in the head. Even though the helmet was not damaged, the peon howled with pain. "Hmm. Stronger armour and weapons, but not necessarily more skilled," Xiphos noted, turning away from the peon.

Just as he was about to head into the next battle, he sensed the same sword flying straight towards him. He used his psychic powers to stop it just as it was about to hit his back. He turned around and sent the floating sword straight back at the sender. The sender caught the sword in between it's two large claws. Xiphos was face to face with an Excadrill. "So you're not completely defenceless after all," it said. "Well, it would have been disappointing for you to die just like that."

"Are you threatening me?" Xiphos asked. "Because I happen to be a very well trained swords-pokemon."

"You seem to be having trouble with the new, improved peons," it replied, gesturing towards the fallen peon, dropping their sword beside them.

"Hardly," Xiphos said, in a cocky way, "that one wasn't much trouble at all. I killed them easily enough."

The Excadrill looked at him, then back at the peon. It kicked the peon, causing them to stir. They looked up to see the two pokemon, grabbed their sword and ran away. "Seemed fine to me," Excadrill muttered.

"That sounds like a challenge to me," Xiphos said, bringing his swords up in a cross shape.

"I wish," replied the Excadrill. "You might be somewhat fun to toy with, but I don't have time. I have orders to slaughter all of those fools that are keeping the shield up. Instead, I'll leave you with a friend of mine." He turned away and called; "Kabutops! She only seems to answer to her species name nowadays." He looked down, as if reminiscing for a moment.

A Kabutops suddenly burst from a pile of dead Resistance members. It ran over to Excadrill. "Kabutops," the Excadrill said, as if talking to a pet, "I have a friend who wants to meet you." The Kabutops turned to see Xiphos. It licked it's lips and roared, raising it's scythe-like blades. "Enjoy your doom!" Excadrill chuckled as he turned away, in search of other prey.

* * *

Cobalion's horns had no affect on the peon's armour, so Cobalion had resorted to using his various moves. The peons were, mostly, unable to dodge the close combats and metal claws, but on occasion, one would be able dodge the attacks. What was worse was that every so often, he would feel a searing pain. No ordinary blade was able to pierce his cobalt armour. Cobalion was unable to get a closer look at the enemy's weapons since they moved to fast.

Cobalion was starting to become overrun with peons. He spun around, causing all of the peons to be pushed back. However, they didn't seem any worse for wear. Just as they were about to close in on him again, a voice rang out. "Stand down, men! And women I suppose." the voice boomed. Cobalion turned to face the voice to see a grey-haired, bearded man, in similar armour to his subordinates, holding a cutlass.

"Who are you?" Cobalion asked, cautiously. "Our Intel clearly stated that the admin, Stephanie would be in charge of the attack force."

The man threw his cutlass into the air and caught it by the hilt without looking up. "Hello, Cobalion," he said in a sinister voice, "you may call me Odan. Or you may know me as Captain Slash-the famed pirate who always found his treasure. And never lost a duel. However, you will later come to know me as your master." He looked towards the forest entrance. "As for Stephanie, she failed in her own cowardice."

"Captain Slash, eh," Cobalion said with intrigue. "You are a disgrace to sword-wielders everywhere. I have waited many years to destroy you in battle."

Odan burst out laughing. "Disgrace? Me? No. I made sword-wielding much more than just an honourable battle style. I made it a way of life. I found amazing ways to take sword skills to the next level. And as for you beating me. I laugh at the very idea."

Cobalion growled. "Is that a challenge then?"

"Indeed it is."

"You'll never beat the first musketeer!"

Odan chuckled once again. "I don't care if you can use sacred sword. My titanium cutlasses will make short work of your cobalt armour. And if that isn't enough, take a look at what I and all of the other peons have in our hilts." He brought his hilt forward so that Cobalion could see.

Cobalion looked down at the sword and gasped. "That's a-"

"Fire gem," Odan said, cutting in. Embedded in the hilt of the cutlass was a red, glowing gem. "Stolen from a Charizard's treasure trove. I keep a few with me just in case I ever run into you, which I appear to have done. And my armour was enchanted by Darkrai himself. It's immune to all holy attacks. That includes your sacred sword."

"Your preparation will be for nothing!" Cobalion roared. "I will destroy you! EN GARDE!" Cobalion swung his horns towards Odan's head, hoping to finish this battle quickly. Odan casually raised his cutlass to catch the closer horn.

"I'd better even out the odds," Odan said, "considering you have two swords." He drew his other cutlass and slashed the other horn. The gems in the two cutlasses glowed brightly, channelling fire energy into Cobalion's blades. Cobalion gritted his teeth, keeping contact.

After a minute of contact with the cutlasses, Cobalion knew he had to let go. He moved his head backwards. The contact was released and Odan lurched forward slightly. "Let go so soon," he taunted, "well I guess it was getting a bit boring."

Cobalion prepared a metal claw attack and shot towards Odan with blinding speed. Upon reaching Odan, he lashed out...and cried in pain as his claws made contact with the cutlasses.

"I don't believe you're allowed to use attacks in a duel," Odan commented. "Too bad you can't learn any special attacks. And I doubt you've used any TMs."

Cobalion charged towards Odan. "Fine, we'll play it your way. A sword fight." He lowered his head to collide with the cutlasses.

* * *

Aureola had her back turned, but could still recognise the slightest sounds of the Garchomp sneaking up behind her. She fired an aura sphere towards it. It sent the sphere flying into a tree with one wrist sweep.

At this, Aureola turned and found herself face-to-face with the Garchomp. She took a few paces back. "Who are you?" she asked, scanning the creature's aura.

"Ye do not know who oi be!?" the Garchomp replied incredulously. "Oi be Cap'in Slash's top pokemon. Oi be undefeated in 'undreds o' battles, foolish wench."

"Captain Slash!" Aureola exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

"It don't matter what Slash be doin' ere," the Garchomp said. "Oi'll spare yer futile existence if ye step aside an' let me deal with the fool keepin' up the shield." He pointed to the glowing Absol behind Aureola.

Aureola opened her arms wide and glared at him. "I will not let you harm one of my own soldiers!" she said with a forceful tone.

"Hmm, feisty are we?" Garchomp said, intrigued. "Oi do like feisty wenches. Let's see how ye feel once oi show ye moi earthquake!" He jumped up and then hit the ground with a large crash. Fissures snaked from him, all heading towards Aureola.

Aureola jumped at the last second, causing the fissures to collide. She shot towards a nearby tree, shooting aura from her feet to prevent herself from colliding with it. Instead, she shot towards the Garchomp and gave him the full taste of an aura-infused punch.

"Ow!" Garchomp exclaimed. "So yer tougher than oi thought. Good to see that this fight might actually be fun." He charged towards her with a dragon rush.

* * *

Terrakion and Virizion met on their way to Cobalion. They ran as fast as they could to reach Cobalion before anything bad happened. They were so focused on their sprint that they didn't notice the Excadrill until they had run right into it. The Excadrill fell over. It picked itself up off the ground and brushed itself with the flat of it's claws.

"Whoops!" Virizion exclaimed. "Sorry about that."

"Well you should be you idiots," the Excadrill said sharply. It glared at the two musketeers then looked away. "I don't have time to lecture you on how to be more courteous. I have more pressing matters." He started walking away.

A Chatot flew out of a tree and landed on the Excadrill's shoulder. It faced the musketeers. "Squark!" it shouted. "Musketeers! Must be stopped! Deal with them!"

The Excadrill looked at the Chatot, then behind itself at the musketeers. "Hmm, those are the musketeers?" it said, turning around. "I expected them to be bigger. And glowing with power."

"Slash's book said! Pictures of them! Pally saw! Pally Saw!" the Chatot, known as 'Pally' squawked.

"Well then, gentlemen," the Excadrill said to the musketeers, "oh, and lady," he added, looking at Virizion.

Virizion narrowed his eyes. "I AM A GENTLEMAN!" he roared.

"Sorry then, 'gentleman'," it said, putting emphasis on the 'gentleman', "you just look very effeminate."

"You wouldn't be the first to make that mistake," Terrakion chuckled.

"HEY!" Virizion yelled.

"Get on with it! Pally wanna fight!" Pally said, annoyed.

"Okay. Okay," the Excadrill said to Pally, "but only if you stop shouting in my ear."

Pally looked pained for a few seconds, then he sighed and said, "Okay."

"Now that that is dealt with," the Excadrill said, turning back to the musketeers, "my name is Johnny and this is Pally. We are members of Slash's clan of pirates. I have been ordered to take out the shield generators. However, I have also been ordered to distract the other two musketeers whilst master defeats Cobalion in battle."

"We won't let you!" Terrakion roared. "We'll wipe the floor with you, then help Cobalion!"

"I would have agreed with you if I did not have Pally with me," Johnny said, "but now we have more type advantages."

"Ha," Terrakion laughed, "I'll knock that tiny parrot out of yours out of the sky with a stone edge!"

"And our sacred sword attacks will annihilate you!" Virizion said, sounding much less threatening.

"Maybe," Johnny admitted, "but we'll put up a damned good fight. It should distract you long enough for master to beat Cobalion."

The four gave each other looks, then charged into battle.

* * *

A Scyther stared down at the pile of bodies she had just created. _"Such a waste," _she thought as she lopped a Cranidos' head off of it's body. _"All you had to do was stand aside as I slaughtered your friend."_

She know turned her attention to the Abra that was still glowing green. The Abra had it's back turned. _"And now for you," _the Scyther thought. The Abra flickered. Perhaps something of Scyther's thoughts got through to it. Not that it would make a difference. All pokemon creating the shield were locked in until it failed or all was safe.

The Scyther took small steps closer, just to be safe. When she saw that the Abra didn't move, she walked right behind the Abra. She raised her bladed arm, then brought it down, slicing the Abra into two halves. The green light flickered out as the Scyther began to clean the blood and bits of various organs off of her blade. Had she looked up, she would have noticed the shield flickering a few times before returning to it's original form.

* * *

Xiphos swung his blades from side-to-side to block the sickle-like blades of the Kabutops. It lashed out at incredible speeds, never wearing down, searching for a gap in Xiphos' defences. Xiphos moved his blades at matching speeds. He was unable to get any hits on his opponent and was becoming more and more exhausted. To further complicate the matter, the Kabutops didn't seem to be effected by any of his psychic attacks. He had expected the Kabutops to eventually tire, especially since it had already battled a vast number of others, however, it showed no signs of stopping.

The Kabutops was soon able to find a weak point. Xiphos had slowed down due to exhaustion and consequently was unable to stop a blade from slashing his right leg, tearing his muscles. He fell to one knee and the Kabutops took this advantage to slash at the chest. However, it's blades never reached the chest.

Kabutops stabbed again, but it's blade stopped in mid-air again. It tried forcing the blade, but to no avail. It stared at it's blades, confused, not noticing the green shield around Xiphos. He took advantage of this to slip under the Kabutops and attack it's legs and lower-body. Xiphos felt his blade slow down as it got close to the Kabutops. He managed to will it on by channelling psychic energy into it, turning it into a psycho-cut attack. His blade was able to slice through the rock armour, causing the Kabutops to roar in pain.

It brought it's own blade down and Xiphos was only just able to avoid it. He used his psychic powers to numb the pain from his leg so he could stand up. _"Come on," _he thought, attempting to will himself on, _"you've had worse wounds than this." _He now fought as hard and aggressively as he could. He swung faster than he had been blocking and even managed to hit Kabutops a few times, inflicting minor wounds that it ignored.

Despite this, he too was receiving cuts from Kabutops. He numbed the pain in his mind as much as he could, only focusing on one thing; killing his opponent. For a few minutes, they went on, exchanging blows like this. After that time, Xiphos noticed an opportunity to hit Kabutops in the chest. He put so much effort into the attack that everything else around him seemed to disappear.

Just as he was about to reach his target, he was snapped back to reality by a stabbing pain in his chest. He realised that, by making this attack, he had left himself open to all attacks. Kabutops' blade was stuck in his chest. It withdrew the blade and prepared to stab again.

Xiphos fell to the ground, clutching his chest. He raised a protect shield and prayed to Arceus that something would save him. Kabutops kept slicing at the shield, angrily. And then, the protect failed...

* * *

Garchomp charged towards Aureola with another dragon rush. Aureola merely sidestepped out of the way at the last moment and watched as he went flying into a tree. The tree trunk shattered and the tree toppled over onto the forest floor. Garchomp, however, got up without so much as a scratch.

"Oi!" Garchomp bellowed. "No-one does tha' t' me an' gets away with it! Especially a wench like ye!" He summoned a sand storm which raged throughout the area of the forest. Leaves were swept up in the violent winds and sand formed on the ground.

Aureola was unfazed. "You really think that will stop me," she said. "I'm part steel type and I have command over aura." She closed her eyes and started scanning the area for traces of aura. It did not take her long to see the dark red aura of the Garchomp as he prepared another earthquake. Aureola used an extremespeed and sprinted towards Garchomp.

Garchomp was surprised when he was hit with the speeding tackle. "'ow t' hell did ye hit me!" he roared. "Oi have the sand veil ability." He unleashed his earthquake, causing fissures to spiral out of the sand.

Aureola gasped when she felt the sand disappearing beneath her feet. She charged aura into her feet, boosting her into the air. She scanned the area whilst in the air and struck down with an aura based kick, straight into Garchomp's head. He was knocked over by the force. His head was cushioned by the sand. He groaned.

"Let this be a lesson to you," Aureola said as she walked over. "Don't. Assume. Females. Are. Objects." She hit him after each word. The sandstorm cleared up and Garchomp was out cold. She looked around and noticed it was eerily quiet. Sounds of the battle could be heard nearby.

She turned back to the Absol she had been guarding and was met with the words, "Don't come any closer." She looked at the Absol and noticed that a Bisharp had it's blade held up to the neck of it. "If you come any closer, I'll kill this fool," it said.

At first, Aureola stood still. Then she realised something. "Hey! You're going to kill the Absol anyway!"

"Good point," the Bisharp replied. It brought it's blade to the left side of the neck. Aureola moved as fast as she could to reach the Bisharp in time. She reached it and punched...the air. The Absol's body had a spasm as blood flowed from it's neck. Then the green aura surrounding it faded and it lay still. The shield flickered violently for, about ten seconds, then became solid once more.

The Bisharp watched from behind. Aureola noticed and turned to face it. It flinched as she gave it a death stare. "Anyway," it said, "I must be off. One more shield generator to go and I don't want anyone else to get it." With that, it turned around and raced off. Aureola immediately gave chase.

* * *

In amongst the fighting, no-one noticed a Scyther make her way through the crowds of the Resistance, hunting for her prey. She managed to get right to the relic stone where she found the exact prey she was looking for. A Wobbuffet sat right behind the relic stone. _"This will be too easy," _the Scyther thought.

She crept closer, keeping watch on nearby pokemon. None noticed her. For a few moments, she thought she was in the clear. Just as she reached the Wobbuffet, she stuck a blade out, then was, suddenly knocked away by a take down attack.

She recovered quickly, crouching down in preparation to strike. She found herself face-to-face with an angry Altaria. A Growlithe stood beside it, glaring just as much.

"Okay," the Scyther said calmly, "I'm going to let you stand aside without any consequences. If you don't comply, I'll simply kill you both. Either way is fine by me."

"We have two type advantages on you," the Altaria said sternly. "As if, we would allow you to kill the last shield generator capable of sustaining the shield. We have seen it flicker twice already. I assume this was team Cipher's doing."

"You clearly have no idea who you are dealing with," Scyther said with a sinister tone. "Type disadvantages are no problem for someone like me." She leapt up into the air, and landed on the relic stone. "I don't think I even need to wipe out the shield. I could destroy the relic stone right now."

"We'll let you do no such thing!" Growlithe yelled, firing a flamethrower at Scyther. She glided off the stone, narrowly avoiding the fire, landing in front of the two pokemon.

"I see you have made up your mind," Scyther mused. "Well then, I guess I shall be forced to kill you both." She moved her blades into a fighting stance.

"Just you try," Airina threatened, crouching in preparation to fly. Growlithe said nothing, but bared his fangs. Fire glowed behind them.

As they were about to charge into battle, a Bisharp ran straight towards the Wobbuffet. She was cut off by a punch from Aureola, sending her flying to one side. She landed on her feet, all the same.

Airina glanced at Aureola. They exchanged no more than a nod. Then she examined the new-comer. Growlithe looked confused for a moment, then bared his fangs a the Scyther who was now attempting to sneak back to the Wobbuffet.

Also noticing this, Aureola fired an aura sphere at the Scyther, sending her back a few feet. In the moment of her distraction, Bisharp sneaked up behind Aureola and slashed her. Aureola unleashed aura, blasting Bisharp off of her.

Scyther charged back towards the relic stone. Airina took off towards the sky and Growlithe unleashed flames which set fire to the moss growing around the relic stone. "A bit of fire isn't going to stop me," Scyther chuckled. She jumped over each area of flame with ease, reaching Growlithe in a matter of seconds.

Growlithe braced himself as Scyther's blade came down on him. However, it didn't reach him, since Airina hit Scyther in the back with a fly attack. Scyther spun around and unleashed an air slash, knocking Airina to the ground. Growlithe used flamethrower while Scyther's back was turned.

Scyther noticed the fire and back-flipped over Growlithe. When she landed behind him, she slashed at Growlithe's backside. Meanwhile, Growlithe's flame collided with the recovering Airina. While, it didn't hurt her much, she did sustain a burn. Growlithe apologised, then howled in pain as he was slashed from behind.

He spun around quickly enough to hit Scyther with his flamethrower. Scyther gave a cry of shock at actually getting hit, but she did not seemed to have sustained any injuries. Instead she ran around to Growlithe's side, dodging the oncoming flames, and slashed him again.

Airina managed to rise back into the air, thanks to her natural cure ability healing the burn. She launched a dragon pulse at Scyther, who felt the vibrations in the air and managed to dodge out of the way, just in time.

Scyther had had enough. She flew up onto the relic stone and used swords dance to raise her attack. Growlithe attempted to hit her with embers, but, since he was right underneath the relic stone, he could not get a clear shot. Airina followed Scyther, but by the time she had got there, Scyther had finished her swords dance.

She then used double team as Airina charged with a take down. Scyther disappeared, then immediately reappeared with a group of Scythers that looked exactly the same. Airina found herself plough straight through a duplicate Scyther and crashed into the relic stone.

Growlithe looked at all the Scyther's in confusion. One ran up and attacked him, but the blade passed right through him. He laughed. "So double team clones can't do anything against me." Suddenly a Scyther slashed him. He cringed, then said, "Okay, I think I've found the real one." Then he looked around and realised that the real Scyther had gone...or possibly not since he was surrounded by Scyther.

Airina looked at him from on top of the relic stone. "Use a heat wave!" she shouted. "It should get rid of all the clones and reveal the real Scyther." She felt a blast of warm air as Growlithe did as he was told. It was so hot that she had to turn away. When she turned back, she noticed that there were no Scyther left.

Growlithe looked around and then gasped. Airina followed his line of sight and saw three things: Wobbuffet, on the ground in a pool of blood, the shield flicker, then fade away and Scyther's razor wind as it collided with her.

* * *

For a pokemon that had a dual type disadvantage against her, Aureola found Bisharp a tough challenger. Frequently, she would disappear, then re-appear right behind the Lucario, sinking her blades in. This did allow Aureola to get some good hits in, but also caused her to receive various cuts and scratches. Furthermore, the Bisharp was more resistant to her attacks than she had anticipated.

Bisharp attempted to sink her blades into Aureola once again. This time, Aureola noticed and hit her with an aura infused punch. Bisharp flew into a tree, getting stuck in it. Aureola ran up and attacked her with all of her might. Eventually, the tree fell over, freeing Bisharp.

"I don't think you'll be getting up from that," Aureola said smugly. Then she noticed a ripped piece of fabric caught on the tree. She identified it as a focus band. Bisharp rose, staring right at her. She charged at Aureola and slashed her with a great guillotine attack. Aureola collapsed to the ground, a large wound stretched from her shoulder to her opposite leg. It had even cut right through her steel armour.

Bisharp chuckled, looking over the collapsed Lucario. She then picked up her focus band and ran towards the relic stone where she arrived just in time to see Scyther kill the Wobbuffet. "Dammit Scyther!" she whined as Scyther launched a razor wind at Airina. "I wanted to kill the Wobbuffet!"

"Quit complaining and let's vacate the area," Scyther replied, "before master commences phase two." She looked over at the collapsed Lucario. "Do you think the guardian is still alive?"

"She should be," Bisharp replied, "I purposely held back."

"Let's take her then, she could be useful." Scyther slung Aureola over her back. She nearly collapsed, but adjusted to the weight quickly. "Come on, let's go." With that, they ran back through the forest. Growlithe attempted to run after them, but was, inevitably, too slow.

* * *

As soon as the battle began, Johnny used an earthquake to shake up the two musketeers. This allowed him and Pally (who was unaffected, naturally) to separate their foes, giving them type advantages. Johnny used a drill run to send Terrakion tumbling away. Pally, being the weaker of the two, was unable to move Virizion, so instead, he used chatter. Virizion cringed as each booming word of 'human speak' blared out of Pally's mouth.

Virizion could not do anything about Pally, as he continued to curse at high volumes, so he charged towards the bird with a close combat. Pally squawked as he fell back and Virizion turned to go and help Terrakion. He got no more than a few paces forward when Pally flew at him and continuously pecked at his grassy hide.

In an attempt to get Pally off of him, Virizion summoned dead leaves from the ground to attack him. More often than not, the razor leaves stabbed Virizion himself, but he did not mind. These leaves would soon decay and become fertilizer for the grass on his back. Much to his relief, he heard another squawk and Pally flew away, leaves embedded in amongst his feathers.

Pally returned to his original tactic, as he attempted to remove the leaves with his beak. He started to curse in human speak again. However, this time he flew up into the branches of a tall tree. Hoping that Terrakion could hold on without him, Virizion continued to attack Pally by using double kick on the tree Pally was in. Pally darted out of the tree and into another one. Virizion ran over and kicked that tree.

This carried on until Virizion realised his strategy was not working. Instead, he started firing razor leaves at Pally. Since the air was his advantage, Pally easily dodged out of the way of every single leaf that flew in his direction. Virizion started to get angry and unleashed another wave of leaves. Pally dodged out of the way of the oncoming leaves, then cried out in alarm as the leaves hit him in the back.

He looked down to notice that more leaves were coming, all appearing to be multi-coloured. Pally began to fly for his life, chased by hundreds of rainbow leaves which kept up with him relentlessly. He looked back to see how far behind the magical leaf attack was and ended up colliding with a tree. As he fell from the sky, magical leaves cut him all over his body. He landed on a tree root and remained motionless, covered in dead leaves.

* * *

Meanwhile, Terrakion was finding his challenger tough. For one thing, Johnny was faster than he had expected, making it harder for his attacks to hit. When they did hit, Johnny was defensive enough to stay standing. Johnny would, periodically use earthquake to disorientate Terrakion when he was getting to many hits in.

Terrakion unleashed a sacred sword attack at Jonny. However, Johnny was not there when the attack struck the spot he had been standing in. Terrakion looked around to see if he could spot the Excadrill.

Suddenly, a hole opened up beneath him and his underside was struck by sharp claws. Terrakion used rock slide to cover the hole and, hopefully, hurt Johnny. During this moment of distraction, Johnny popped up behind Terrakion and unleashed a metal claw on him. He howled, then spun around to see Johnny charging towards him with a drill rush.

Terrakion attempted to dodge the attack, but Johnny changed his course, allowing him to charge into Terrakion. He did not stop either. He kept pushing Terrakion back until they hit a tree. Terrakion realised that he was now stuck against the tree, on his hind legs, with Johnny grasping hold of his fore-legs.

Johnny glared at him. "Did you really think you could avoid my attack?" he asked. "We Excadrill might not be able to see too well, but we, instead, rely on vibrations in the ground." He chuckled. "Oh well, I guess I should probably finish you off." He let go of one of Terrakion's legs and brought his claws up to Terrakion's neck.

This was all Terrakion needed though. "You should remember something Johnny," Terrakion said as he struck Johnny in the face with his foot. Johnny flinched, allowing Terrakion to bring his head down and strike Johnny with a sacred sword. "I'm a legendary!" Johnny crumpled in a heap.

Terrakion turned just in time to see Pally fall onto a tree root. "Not bad, Virizion," he complimented, as he walked towards his companion, "considering you were battling something many times smaller than my opponent," he added sarcastically.

"Hey!" Virizion shouted. "This is no time to be sarcastic! We need to help Cobalion!"

"Indeed!" Terrakion replied. With that, they ran off towards the north of the forest.

Had they stayed longer, they would have seen Johnny heave himself off of the ground. He limped over to Pally. "Pally, are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Pally...in pain..." Pally croaked.

Johnny looked around him and saw a hint of blue on the ground. He painfully bent down and found it to be an oran berry. Splitting the berry, he carefully put half in Pally's mouth and the other half in his own mouth. He soon felt better. Pally flew a little as his wounds healed and the leaves fell out.

After a few seconds, Johnny asked, "Do you think we distracted them for long enough?"

"Pally thinks master will beat Cobalion fast," Pally squawked. "Pally also thinks we should get out of here."

Johnny noticed that Pally was looking up. He followed Pally's line of sight and noticed that the shield had gone. "We'd better get out of here then. I think I saw Billy fighting over in that direction. And to find Kabutops, we just need to look for a pile of dead bodies. The other two are probably already out of the forest, knowing them." Pally flew up onto Johnny's shoulder and they made their way through the forest.

* * *

Stephanie was bored out of her mind. She had spent the last two hours staring out of the front window, watching as explosions ripped through the forest, but unable to see what caused them. She noticed that the sky had begun to turn pink. The peon guard had been perfectly still the entire time. Stephanie's mind started to wonder if she could bribe him into freeing her.

"Err...excuse me," she said. The guard made no reaction. "If you free me, I'll..." She thought about it for a moment. "I'll kiss you?"

The guard chuckled at the immaturity of this statement, but did not reply. "Fine," Stephanie said, getting desperate, "I'll do whatever you want me too, just untie me first!"

The guard turned around and grinned at her. "What if, what I want, requires you to be tied up," he said in a sinister tone.

"We'll do it later, just release me for now." She had seen the shield go down and knew she did not have long to make her move.

For a moment, the guard stood there and contemplated the situation. Then he went and untied her. The moment she was free, Stephanie punched him in the face, knocking him over. She ran over to where her poke balls were being kept and grabbed them.

The guard picked himself up off the floor, only to be punched once again-this time harder-by a Toxicroak. He flew into a wall and Stephanie could have sworn she heard a crack. She looked over at the peon, lying in an ever increasing pool of his own blood. "Toxicroak, go and dispose of the body," Stephanie commanded. The Toxicroak picked up the peon and walked out. Stephanie sent out her other pokemon. "Go and make sure no other peons are aboard."

All of her pokemon left except Polly. "Let's get moving then, eh Polly," Stephanie said with excitement.

"Where are we going?" Polly asked.

"Well, we can't stay with Cipher, now that Odan will rat us out," Stephanie replied, "but we have a ship and there's a whole world to go and explore."

"And what if Cipher come after us?"

"This ship is the most heavily armed ship in the fleet. Cipher won't stand a chance."

Polly sighed. "In that case, we might as well get moving." Stephanie took a place at the control panel and pressed some buttons. The engines to the ship started and she took hold of the steering wheel. She carefully piloted the ship off of the ground and flew south, over the forest at full speed.

* * *

Odan looked down upon Cobalion whose horns were cut off and was covered in gashes, piercing his armour. "The rules of a sword fight are to disarm the opponent," Odan muttered as he sheathed his cutlasses, "and that's exactly what I did." He picked up the two horns and waved them around a bit. "Perhaps I'll get these fashioned into spare swords. Or maybe I'll mount them on the wall. Another trophy of my success."

"You...only won...because...you cheated..." Cobalion managed to say.

"Sure," Odan replied, "I broke the rule that states, a sword must be plain and must not be tampered with in any way, but how else did you expect me to win?"

"My friends...will be coming...to stop you..." Cobalion said.

"I know, but by the time they get here, we will be gone." Odan pulled out a small circular device from his pocket. "This device will allow short ranged teleport."

He then turned to his second in command. "Evacuate the forest and begin operation 'obliterate'." The peon saluted, then turned away to pass the message on.

"It's time for us to go, Cobalion," Odan said, patronisingly. However, he looked up and saw the flagship zoom over the forest. A peon fell out of the ship and landed in the long grass. Odan noticed that his head was covered in blood. "Shit," he muttered. He stood still for a moment, then continued, "this may be to my advantage." No peon reacted because, they assumed it was all part of the plan and didn't see the body. Odan put his hand on Cobalion and pressed the button on the device. They immediately disappeared, reappearing on one of the three remaining ships.

* * *

Peons and their pokemon began to flee from the forest and soon, none were left. A cheer rang out from the Resistance, assuming they had won. Airina, however, knew better than to assume. "They're not finished yet," she said, concerned.

About fifteen minutes after the forest had been emptied, the roar of engines could be heard, followed by explosions. Airina and Growlithe looked up to see three Cipher battleships sweeping over the forest, firing upon everything. "We can't do anything to stop them!" Airina said to Growlithe. "We have to grab the relic stone and get out of here!"

Growlithe ripped the stone plate out of the relic stone. He held it tight in his jaw as he clambered onto Airina and the two of them flew away, being careful to avoid the barrage of cannon balls. "Why are we going north and not south?" Growlithe shouted over the roar of the battle.

"Because I have reason to believe that Jirachi is not trustworthy!" Airina yelled back. Growlithe did not reply. He just sat and contemplated what Airina had said.

* * *

Eagun had gathered the whole village to the side of the hill. Most of the villagers were elderly or younger people visiting relatives. "My fellow villagers!" Eagun said looking up into the northern sky. "We must go into hiding until the battle is over. If we stay, we will most likely end up dead."

Nobody questioned him. They trusted their elder and followed him as he made his way into a small tunnel entrance at the bottom of the hill. After descending a large number of steps, they found themselves in a large cavern equipped with rocks that had been fashioned into chairs and tables and a fresh water spring in one corner. Tunnels led to other rooms in the cave.

The people began to settle in this cave, all the while, listening to the explosions getting progressively louder.

* * *

Odan cackled as he passed over the relic stone. Looking through one of the ship's underside cameras, he could see the relic stone had been annihilated by cannon fire.

A peon stood beside him. "Sir, now that we have destroyed the relic stone, shall we return to base?" she asked.

"No," Odan replied manically, "let's finish off the village that have always resisted Cipher's dominance!"

"As you wish, sir," the peon said, saluting.

* * *

Night was falling. The Resistance had suffered a heavy loss. Xephos had been found dead in a pile of dead leaves. Cobalion and Aureola had been taken by Cipher. Storm was mortally wounded. Growlithe and Aureola had disappeared. Many other Resistance members had died. Agate had been completely and utterly destroyed.

The remaining Resistance members made their way back to base, wearily. Terrakion and Virizion were walking away from the village, discussing the matters. "Without Cobalion," Terrakion said sadly, "pokemon will lose hope in us. He was the strongest of us."

"What about-" Virizion suggested.

"You aren't suggesting him, are you?" Terrakion said, cutting in.

"Yes," Virizion replied, "we don't have much choice. He was the only one to ever rival Cobalion in a sword fight."

"So that's it then," Terrakion said, "we're going to have to find the forth musketeer again."


	13. Two days remain

**AN: This took much less time then last chapter. We get to look at some of the side stories, but don't worry, Growlithe and Airina will return next chapter.**

* * *

In Cipher's dreary meeting room, Cipher's admins sat, awaiting the arrival of Stephanie and Odan. Selena looked concerned. The battle report had been sent by Odan and there had been no sign of Stephanie. On the other end of the table, Evice grinned malevolently, thinking about what would come next. And the power that he would have in just two days. Naturally, the advisers sat still and silent.

The admins who were not out on important missions were also there. Merton had a laptop out in front of him, watching views from security cameras in Pyrite (the ones which were not broken). He was watching in the hope that Marcia might pass by one. If she avoided all of the cameras, he still had masses of peons waiting. Gorigan was soundly asleep next to him, snoring every so often.

On one TV screen, Ein stood, looking very tired, with Lovrina behind him, holding a mug of coffee. On another, Dakim took up almost all of the screen while Snattle poked his head over the other's shoulder. They were in the command center of a ship.

Soon, the door opened and Odan marched in with several peons. "Welcome back, Odan," Evice said. Several other admins also greeted him. He took a seat and was immediately interrogated by Selena.

"Where the hell is my Stephanie," she said in a deep, but quiet voice.

Odan put on the most sincere face he could in the situation. "I'm sorry, Selena," he said, "there was nothing I could do. The Resistance destroyed her ship, with her on-board as well as one other ship." Inside he was praising himself for keeping a straight face.

Selena hung her head and burst into tears. For about a minute, all that could be heard were her sobs and mutterings. Then she turned back to Odan. "This is your fault!" She yelled. "You should have been with her, protecting her! I thought you would be on the same ship!"

"I'm sorry," Odan said sympathetically, "I was busy fighting on the ground. She refused to fight, so we had keep her in the ship."

"I hate you!" she screamed. She stood up, drawing a knife. "I hate you!" She attempted to walk towards Odan, but peons held her back. She continued to scream until one of the advisers put his hand on her fore-head. She immediately went limp, dropping the knife. The peons carried her out of the room.

Ignoring what had just happened, Evice turned to Odan. "It appears we need a new admin, Odan and I think you will fit the bill."

"Thank you, sir," Odan replied. "It is an honour and a privilege." It took will-power not to stand up and celebrate.

"And I will need you to join me at Realgam tower tomorrow evening," Evice continued, "which means we will leave early tomorrow afternoon." He turned to the TV screens. "I already know you are coming soon Ein, assuming the machine gets finished in time."

"Yes," Ein said groggily, "we have spent the last twenty-four hours, working pretty much non-stop to get it done." Some peons stared at him, hearing stories about Lovrina and Ein from their fellows who work in the lab and the strange noises that could be heard from outside their office. "In fact, we should have it done a day early. I will be transferring it to Realgam later this morning."

"Good," Evice replied. "I would also like Lovrina to join us in the tower."

Lovrina gasped, but then said, "Yes sir."

Evice turned to the other screen. "Once you are done with team Snagem, bring any shadow pokemon they may have to Realgam."

"OF COURSE!" Dakim shouted.

"We will insure it is done, my lord," Snattle added. "We will soon be arriving at Snagem's base." He chuckled evilly.

"Merton, I want you to continue your search for Marcia," Evice said to Merton, who replied with a nod, still staring at the cameras, "and Gorigan..." Gorigan did not respond. "Gorigan," Evice said a bit louder. Gorigan did not respond. "GORIGAN!" Evice screamed at the top of his lungs.

Gorigan awoke and turned to Evice. "Yes, sir?"

"How is your hunt for the Resistance going on?" Evice asked, sighing.

Gorigan's eyes lit up and he began talking. "Gorigan found out from torturing the prisoners that the Resistance is run by a mysterious figure known as the 'master' and his second in command is a Honchkrow."

"Hmm," Evice thought, "a Honchkrow, eh." He rubbed his chin in thought.

"Maybe I can spread some light on the situation," Odan said. "We managed to catch both Cobalion and a Lucario in the battle. With enough work, we may be able to get more info from them."

"Good work Odan," Evice replied, "you're much more useful than that stupid, childish admin. Gorigan, get to work on those two prisoners." He looked over at Gorigan to notice he was asleep. He sighed, took a deep breath and, "GORIGAN!"

"What," came the reply.

"Oh, I'll just write it down. It would be easier that way. Meeting adjourned. I have some business to attend to." Evice got up and walked out of the room.

* * *

In a completely different meeting room, the remaining members of the Resistance sat at the table, discussing their next move. Jirachi and Donovan looked around the table at the rag-tag bunch that were left. Replacements for Xephos, Aureola and Storm (who was far too injured to join in) were sat in their respective seats. An Aggron, with a huge claymore sword on his back, sat in Xephos' place. She was called 'Boulder' and was by far the largest thing in the room. On the back of Aureola's seat perched a regal-looking Togekiss called 'Orion'. He kept his head held up high, even in these dark times. In Storm's place, an Archeops perched called 'Turbine'. He had a concerned look on his face. Terrakion and Virizion were both present, since they could not decide who was the better leader. Circuit, the Shade and Crystal were in the same places as before. Wintarn and Pythos were still on their mission.

Jirachi took a glance at each pokemon around her, then began. "My friends," she said softly, "today, we have seen what Cipher can do at full strength. Today we lost, but we must not lose hope. We will remember Xiphos and everyone else who died," she looked over at Boulder who nodded back at her, "but we must also move on. We do not know the status of Aureola and Cobalion, but if we do not act quickly, their lives will be lost."

"Terrakion, Virizion, do you think you will be able to fight Cipher without Cobalion?"

"No," replied Terrakion, bluntly, "without Cobalion, we are not strong enough to take down Cipher. Which is why we are going to get in contact with the one pokemon to rival Cobalion in a duel."

"Other than that Odan guy," Donovan added, cynically.

"Odan clearly cheated!" Virizion roared. Terrakion looked equally angry, but said nothing.

"I sincerely hope you can find him," Jirachi said with a grimace, "because if you can't, we may just lose this war." She began glancing around the room again. Her eyes fell on the Shade. "Shade, we need to find Growlithe. I want you to find him and bring him back."

"You mean Growlithe and Airina?" the Shade questioned, knowing the answer already.

"Whether or not Airina returns is not important," Jirachi replied, somewhat fiercely, causing some of the others to look surprised. "Growlithe is the important one. Only he can do what is necessary."

"I'll be off right now then," the Shade muttered before fading into a shadow and disappearing.

Jirachi loosened up a bit, pleased to be free from the Shade's watchful eye. "At the moment, it is a waiting game," she said. "There is nothing much, any of you can do until we have further information. Orion, we need the guardians to be ready to do a mass-purification when Wintarn and Pythos return."

Orion grunted. "And just how do you think we go about doing that with so few of us?" he scoffed.

"When Growlithe is brought back, he should have the relic tablet with him. Will that help?"

"We may just be able to do it, in that case."

Jirachi turned towards Circuit. "How is the situation going with the shadow lab?"

"We may have worked out a way to completely destroy the power source, using the Under transport system," Circuit replied. "It should deal a hefty blow to the work on the shadow machine, since our spies have detected no back up generators in the shadow lab."

"At least there is some good news," Jirachi said. "Get too it as soon as you can."

"There's more good news, Jirachi," Crystal said. "My psychics have managed to track a large energy signal to a cave north of Cerulean city, in Kanto. It may have some connection with Arceus."

Jirachi gasped. Then she realised that everyone was looking at her. She sighed. "I once went there."

Everyone else gasped.

"Back before I was cursed as I am now," she continued, "I found that cave and used it as shelter, for I was tired. However, I was soon attacked by a monstrosity known as Mewtwo. It was ruthless and determined to catch me. However, it seems to be bound to that cave, since it chased me no further than the entrance."

Nobody spoke for a moment. "This could be big trouble," Crystal whispered.

After a few moments, Donovan spoke. "This is how it stands. For now, we must wait, but be prepared to fight at a moment's notice." At this, everyone got up and left.

* * *

Circuit floated into the ruins of the under subway. While the tracks in this subterranean station had been cleared of rubble by the Resistance, the platforms were covered in all sorts of wreckage. On the tracks, a lone, blue train carriage waited as a few fighting types walked in and out, carrying crates of gunpowder. A group of electric types stood on the platform around the carriage. Scanning the darkness beyond the platform, Circuit could see other tunnels, leading to other parts of Orre. Cipher had once used this place to travel quickly across the region.

A Hariyama stomped up to Circuit with a grin on his face. "We've finished loading the gunpowder. One hard collision should set it off." He chuckled darkly, then stomped away.

Circuit looked over at each of the electric types in turn. When they nodded back, she turned to the next until she knew all of them were ready. They all moved closer to the vehicle. Circuit moved her magnets towards the train and electricity channelled between the two. The others did the same thing in their own way. Soon the train was lit up so intensely that the pokemon had to close their eyes. Any pokemon with hair had it standing on end.

The train started buzzing, electricity sparked all over it. All at once, the pokemon stopped the flow of electricity. The moment the contact was broken, the train zoomed off down the tunnel. Circuit congratulated the pokemon and they made their way back to the Under to find out if they had succeeded.

* * *

The machine was almost finished. Ein could tell that. He glanced over at Lovrina. He thought, once again about the stupidity of these types of romances, but he could not be convinced to stop loving her. His mind wondered to the machine he was building. Would they force all admins to use the machine and become emotionless beings? Would he sacrifice love for power? He knew the answer he, as an admin, should give, but he knew the answer he would give would be different.

He might have smashed up the machine right there and then if his thoughts had not been interrupted by the most beautiful voice he had heard. The voice that crafted evil. No. The voice that crafted his heart. That sounded better.

"Ein, we are not pulling another all-nighter," she said, "and it's already pretty late. As in, 'gone midnight' late."

Snapped out of his trance, Ein chuckled. "You make a good point. We will have to be up early to finish the machine though."

Lovrina scowled for a moment, then she sighed. "Fine then." Suddenly, an explosion shook the ground and the lights flickered out. After a few seconds, the tremors subsided. "What the hell was that?!" Lovrina shouted, a tinge of fear in a voice that struck Ein's heartstrings.

However, he kept his emotions inside. "That must have been the generators," he said, feeling concerned that the Resistance could have done something like this. "I have a feeling that we have underestimated the Resistance."

* * *

As Evice walked in, he gazed upon his fellow Cipher head. She was in a terrible state. Tears continued to flow and her eyes were bloodshot. She was sat on a chair with her arms tied behind it. She looked up when Evice got closer. A look of malice filled her eyes.

Before she could say anything, Evice began. "This is not a good example. My troops do not need you to break-down."

"Your troops," Selena spat. "They are our troops!"

"Not at the moment," Evice replied in a calm voice. "Until you calm down, they are entirely under my command. Why do you care about that girl so much, anyway. She was an accident."

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER AN ACCIDENT!" Selena shrieked.

"You know, this unleash of emotions is not going to bring her back. She would have wanted you to complete our plan."

"No, she wouldn't," Selena said, her voice trembling. "She was only in Cipher because, she had no-one other than me. All she wanted was my love and attention, which I failed to give. I failed to give it because of you!"

"You cannot blame me for this," Evice replied. "You joined Cipher of your own accord."

Selena looked down. After a few moments, she looked up again and said, slightly calmer, "and what do you know about death? You don't exactly look like a family man."

"Oh, I know more about death than you think," Evice said wistfully, whilst fiddling with a pocket knife.

Silence followed. Then Evice said, "This conversation is going nowhere. Selena, you are needed by Cipher." He used his knife to cut the rope around her hands. You can mourn your child later, but, right now, we need you."

Selena stood up. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "You're right. I am ready." She gave one last thought to Stephanie, then turned to face Evice, channeling her hatred towards her enemies.

Evice was on the phone. "Dammit!" he shouted, ending the call.

"What's going on?" Selena asked.

"The lab's power generators have been completely destroyed. Ein is coming to pick up a new generator. Until that is installed, all work on the machine will stop."

* * *

Tabitha walked into Giovanni's office once again. Nothing seemed to have changed since he had last been in there, except that, where the book about Mew had been, a large file rested. Giovanni sat, gazing at him with a smirk, of sorts, on his face. Persian was, like last time, asleep on his lap.

He gestured for Tabitha to take a seat. "I have had reports from admins that say you have shown incredible expertise when working with pokemon."

"Thank you, sir," Tabitha said, timidly.

"I think you have a good chance of reaching admin status," he continued. "I am ashamed to admit that I underestimated you. I want you to join me on 'Operation Mewtwo'."

Tabitha gasped. "Sir! Are you sure? I'm not exactly the best fighter.

"It's not the fighting that I'm worried about. I want you to be the one to capture Mewtwo."

Giovanni put a pokeball on the desk. It was unlike any ball that Tabitha had seen. It had a purple top with two magenta lumps and the letter 'M', written in white between them.

Before Tabitha could comment on it, Giovanni pulled it back. "However, I must know why you harbour such a grudge against Mew." He had a look of concern on his face.

"Sir?"

"Please, don't play dumb with me, Tabitha. I saw your look of hatred when you first entered my office. Tell me why you hate her so much."

For a few moments, all was silent. The only sounds were Persian's snoring. Then, Tabitha accepted that he could not avoid this. "Okay then. But it's not Mew I hate. It's something that looks like her." Giovanni contemplated this.

"It all started fifteen years ago. I was ten and my sister was thirteen. We were on holiday on Cinnabar island, playing with our pokemon on a rocky plain near the volcano. My Poochyena and her Numel were present."

"There was a sudden explosion, followed by a rock-slide from the volcano. We managed to get out of the way of the rocks. But then, this strange, grey, vaguely humanoid creature appeared from a hole in the volcano. It had a purple tail and a face like Mew."

"It looked down at us and shouted something along the lines of, 'You are cursed to become human. You must be eradicated.' It fired a massive hyper beam which I narrowly avoided, along with Poochyena and Numel (who I had in my arms at the time). However, my sister," he faltered, "and her other pokemon were completely vapourised."

"Afterwards, the creature gazed down at me as I stood in shock and boomed, 'I do not have time to deal with you now, but I will be back to finish you off.' Then it left, flying north."

Giovanni stared at him. "You do realise that the pokemon that killed your sister was none other than Mewtwo." He passed the master ball back to Tabitha.

Tabitha contemplated this for a moment, picking up the master ball in his hands. Then he remembered something that Proton had said; "he created a clone of a creature named 'Mew'." "One day, the clone, called Mewtwo, escaped." Suddenly, Tabitha knew that he was staring into the face of his sister's true killer. The one who created a creature of pure malice. He was the one to blame.

He did not voice these thoughts though. Instead, he just said, "This means a lot to me, sir," as he walked out of the office.

* * *

Sand raged around the forces of Wintarn and Pythos as they ran through Elco canyon. Cannon fire sprayed everywhere, triggering rock slides, making the canyon more difficult to traverse. Several Bronzongs and Metagross levitated cages full of screaming shadow pokemon, whilst Hippowdons carried other cages, unleashing sandstorms at the same time.

Above them, Cipher's ships were having trouble traversing the sandstorm. Ahead, at the end of the canyon, a group of serpents fired projectile-based attacks upwards. As the group reached the serpents, the serpents turned and began to run (or slide for that matter) alongside them.

They did not stop until they were several miles away from the war-zone and entering a cave in the middle of the desert. Here, they met more pokemon who took the shadow pokemon from the tired ones. They quickly disappeared further into the cave.

Everyone else took a break in the cave entrance, knowing their job was done. Pythos gazed out into the moonlit desert, towards Elco canyon. "Do you think they sssssaw usssss?" she asked, turning towards Wintarn, who was slumped against a rock.

"Ah do not think so," came the reply, "but it'll only be a matter of time before they figure out what happened. Ah think we should get going as soon as everyone is ready."

Pythos took one last look at Elco canyon. "I hope thosssse foolssss sssssurvive. They will be valuable to the fight against Ccccipher." She turned and slithered into the cave.

* * *

Gonzap slept. His body was slumped in his swivel chair and his feet were up on his wooden desk, which was falling apart. Next to him, his Skarmory perched on a metal pole hanging from the ceiling.

A crash erupted from the floor below causing Gonzap to almost fall off his chair. The only thing which saved him was grabbing hold of Skarmory's perch. The poor bird lost it's balance and fell off, flapping it's wings just before it hit the floor. The crash that was caused by the iron bird was almost as loud as the one that caused Gonzap to fall in the first place. Gonzap sat straight in his chair as a strange figure strode up the stairs.

"Tell me, where are your shadow pokemon Gonzap?" the figure said with an air of confidence.

"Snattle!" Gonzap snarled. "I have no reason to tell you that."

"Then let me give you a reason. There are five ships right outside your base, all ready to launch a barrage of cannon fire at it if I give the command."

At this point Skarmory flew back up to it's perch still dazed. Once it finally landed, it turned to Snattle and scowled at him. Gonzap remained unfazed. "If you destroy the base, you are potentially killing the shadow pokemon."

Snattle growled, getting impatient. "Fine. If that is how you want to play it," he drew a gun and pointed it at Gonzap's head. "Tell me where the shadow pokemon are!"

"Okay, okay," the Snagem head said, looking concerned, "the shadow pokemon are in the back room, behind the stairs on the first floor."

"You're lying," Snattle spat back, "since your guards are so incompetent, I already checked there."

"Well that explains how you got here. As for the shadow pokemon, I don't have a clue, assuming you have checked there."

"If you're going to be like that," he clicked the safety catch, "tell Giratina I send my regards."

There was an explosion. Snattle crumpled, blood spilling out of his head. Behind him, Wakin stood with a pistol, smoke coming out of the barrel. "Good thing I was here to save you, eh Gonzap."

"Nice to know my security force isn't entirely useless," Gonzap replied cynically. "Wakin, there are five Cipher ships at our front door. Why don't we test out our new base defences that we got Gorigan to, unwittingly install." Wakin gave a dark grin in reply.

* * *

The room was pitch black. Aureola could not see a thing. She tried to use her aura sight, but found that something foreign was interfering with all of her abilities. She tried to move, but found herself tied down. She could still feel pain from the wound that the Bisharp had created.

Suddenly, light flowed into the room. She attempted to move her head to see the source, but her head was tied down by a manacle around it. Similar bindings kept her arms, legs and torso from moving. A peon moved into her vision. "Awake, I see," they said, with what she noted was a feminine voice, "you would have been woken anyway."

The peon looked over Aureola with fascination. She began to feel very exposed under their eye. "It really is incredible to see such a rare specimen. It would be a shame to spoil such a creature, so I'll give you a chance. Tell me where the Resistance HQ is."

Aureola did not answer. She stared at them with a death glare. "I know that aura guardians can speak to humans directly, without forming a psychic connection," the peon said, raising her voice. "Tell me, where is your base!"

Aureola still refused to speak. "Pity," the peon said, moving over to a machine and flicking some switches on it. There was a sudden burning feeling in the Lucario's manacles. She noticed that they were glowing red. "I hear that Lucarios don't like the heat," came a cackling voice from beside her. The pain was unbearable for her and was just the first in a long series of tortures.

* * *

The air was still in Pledge Grove as Nate, walked up to the large stone at the back. In front of the stone stood a small, blue and white quadruped with red hair and a large blue horn sticking out of it's forehead. Nate felt as though he should have been dressed in smarter attire then his blue jacket and white shorts.

The creature spoke to him as he reached it. "Thank you, Nate. You have saved Unova. With Ghetsis gone, we should hopefully have a time of peace."

"You're welcome, Keldeo," Nate replied, nervously, "but I couldn't have done it alone, not without-"

"Yes, yes," the creature, known as Keldeo, interjected, "I'll ensure they are sufficiently thanked. I invited you here for a specific reason. I hear you are trying to complete the pokedex, so I thought I could give you information about myself."

Nate looked at him incredulously. "You will?! Thank you so much! Do you happen to have any information on Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion while you're at it. Other than you, those are the only three missing from my Unova pokedex."

"Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion, eh?" he mused. "I'm sure I can help you with them." As he prepared to talk about himself-something he was good at-he heard a cry for help in his head. "Long-ranged telepathy! Terrakion was always bad at that!" he said aloud.

"That's interesting," Nate said enthusiastically, typing it into his pokedex.

"I'm really sorry, I must go." Keldeo ran off, into the trees around Pledge Grove.

"Wait!" Nate shouted. "Damn it. What did I do wrong?"

* * *

"I'm sorry sir, there will be no plane journeys to Orre until the threat of Cipher attacks have been neutralised."

"For Arceus sake!" Wes shouted. "I've been watching the news, Tungsten city is far from the Cipher attacks! It's not even technically in Orre!"

Wes was in Mistralton airport, arguing with a woman at a terminal. Rui was slumped in a chair, staring out at the ridiculously heavy rain and accompanying fog. All of their pokemon were in pokeballs.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but we cannot allow any planes to go to Orre. We can offer you a refund for your tickets, though."

"I don't want a frigging refund! I want to go to bloody Orre!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but you will have to wait until Cipher have died down."

Wes was fuming. "Fine," he said, walking back towards Rui, "but this isn't over."

As Wes sat down, a boy with red hair and green eyes walked up to them. He wore a yellow shirt and blue trousers. In his hair was a blue bandanna and a strange gadget clipped to one ear. A younger girl with blue hair, matching eyes and a plain white dress trailed behind him. "Did I hear that you wanted to go to Orre?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Wes growled. "So what?"

"Wes, be polite," Rui said. She turned to the boy. "Yes, we need to get to Orre, but sadly, all flights are cancelled."

"Well then," the boy replied, "my sister and I were getting a private helicopter back to Professor Crane's lab in Orre. You could join us."

"You have a private helicopter," Wes scoffed.

"No, but it was sent for us. Professor Crane wanted us to get back urgently and-"

He was elbowed in the ribs by his sister. "Should you trust them, big brother?"

"You know, I can tell that these people are good," he replied, looking through a lens that had popped out of the gadget on his ear and rubbing his side, "I think we can trust them." The lens disappeared back into the gadget.

Meanwhile, Wes and Rui were discussing themselves. "We don't have any other options, Wes."

"This could be a clever trap that Cipher have set up."

"I can read their auras. They are fine."

"They might not know that they are part of the trap."

Rui ignored him and turned back to the boy. "We would be delighted to join you."

"That's great!" the boy said. "By the way, my name's Michael and this is my sister, Jovi." Wes glared at Michael, but he did not notice. They walked into a separate terminal and onto the rain drenched runway, where a man in a lab coat was waiting with a helicopter.

* * *

_"Finally. Free of the curse of a physical body." _A body lay in the sand, blood flowing from wounds across the body. _"And finally free of you."_

She gazed down at her work. It was beautiful to her. Now she was completely and utterly free. No more orders. No more arguing with her other self. "You have gone to far, sister." She looked away from her work of art to face her sister.

"Isn't it lovely," she said wistfully. "This is how the world should look."

"Sister! How could you have done such a thing?"

She stared at the Ninjask facing her. "Perfection. That is how I have done such a thing. While I was bonded with you, I was unable to show my perfection. Now that I am free, I can unleash my perfection upon the world."

"Stop babbling nonsense!" the Ninjask yelled. "Why the HELL would you kill our trainer?!"

"Our trainer was a failure. Unworthy. He did not deserve the life he was given, so I took it from him."

"It was not his fault! Look at his background! He was unable to choose his life!"

"You're picking up the terrible human habit of making excuses. It's a good thing I freed you from this disgrace."

Ninjask was furious. "What you have done is wrong! If you think I'm wrong about that, I'll prove it!" She grimaced as she flew down to her trainer and opened the other two balls on his belt. A Wartortle and an Ivysaur appeared.

The Wartortle threw up upon seeing his trainer whilst the Ivysaur just stared, mouth agape. "See!" Ninjask exclaimed. "You have committed a terrible deed!"

The other pokemon looked down at them. "They feel that way now, but in time, they will learn to embrace my work. As will you, sister."

"YOU ARE NO SISTER OF MINE, SHEDINJA!" Ninjask charged towards the Shedinja, unleashing an x-scissor. Her blades harmlessly scraped the shell of Shedinja. "But, how?"

"I am invincible, sister," Shedinja cackled. "I can choose the strength of my shell. I no longer require a physical form. I cannot be killed!" She turned away and spoke once more. "In time, you will learn to embrace my work."

"STOP!" Ninjask bellowed as Shedinja passed disappeared in the air. "SHEDINJA!"


	14. New allies

Airina and Growlithe landed outside a large building. The sun was just creeping up and, even after sleeping in a field, both of them were exhausted. The building was separated into two parts: One was cylindrical in shape and composed mostly of glass. On top of it was a large pokeball. The other was a cuboid, metal structure which was attached to the first part. The outside of the building was so silent, you could hear the Sentret scurrying about in the nearby woods.

They walked towards the large glass doors of the cylindrical structure. Slipping in through the automatic doors, they walked up to an oval-shaped reception desk. A blonde-haired receptionist stirred from her sleep and, automatically said, "Welcome to the Pokemon HQ lab, how may I-" She cut herself off, noticing no one was there. "Oh." She had not noticed the two pokemon who were now wandering past the desk.

The two of them spent about ten minutes peaking into rooms in the hope that they would find what they were looking for. They soon opened another door. Inside, a man with messy black hair and a lab coat on, stood, examining a cylindrical machine with a Blissey. The room had several computers around the room-all with smashed screens. Ripped up paper was strewn across the floor. The man turned around suddenly, saying, "Lily, please don't sneak up on-" He stopped, staring at the two pokemon who were definitely not Lily. "Oh my. What do we have here?"

Growlithe growled defensively-still with the relic fragment in his mouth-as the man walked towards him. Airina held out a wing, blocking Growlithe, before he attacked the man. "This is the man we came to see," she told him. Growlithe eased up.

"What amazing specimens," he said, "but I must not get side tracked. I believe you have the relic fragment from Agate. How you got it in the first place is strange, but this is the answer to my prayers. Clearly Arceus is watching down on us. Ah, but where are my manners. My name is Professor Krane."

Airina turned to the Blissey who nodded, understanding the need for translation. "My name is Airina and this is, well, just Growlithe," she said, "and we are from the Resistance. I am sure you have heard of it. We knew you were the inventor of the purification chamber and wondered if this would help you."

Growlithe knew that Airina was not telling the entire truth, but he kept quiet. Airina gestured to him and he dropped the relic fragment. Professor Krane picked it up and examined it. He gazed at it intensely, muttering things such as "extraordinary!" and "my goodness!". All went quiet as Krane traced an hourglass-shaped indentation in the middle of the tablet with his finger.

Krane immediately took the relic fragment to the machine. Examining it, Growlithe noticed that it was a large, battered cylinder which stretched from the floor to the ceiling and had wires hanging out of it. However, Krane did not take the fragment to it. Instead, he placed it in the center of a circular, metal device, embedded in the floor. The device was full of cracks and wires had been pulled out. Krane crossed two dangling wires, resulting in sparks crackling around the various exposed wires. Despite this, the circular device lit up with a green glow.

"Wow," Growlithe murmured, gazing intently at the machine.

"EUREKA!" Krane yelled at the top of his voice. "IT WORKS!" He pranced around the room, making lots of noise. The Blissey, whilst not moving, still looked ecstatic. Airina glanced at Growlithe, who was still fixated on the machine. She began to wonder if it was a typical custom for human scientists to do this.

Just then, a brown haired woman, with green eyes that were half shut, wearing a pink dressing-gown walked in. "What's going on-" she mumbled, but stopped as soon as she saw the machine. Her eyes flew wide open and she ran towards it, completely ignoring Growlithe and Airina. "The purification chamber! How did you-"

"You can thank my friends here," he said, pointing to Airina and and Growlithe, who were still stood there, dumbfounded. "They brought the relic fragment to me."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Lily said to them, apparently getting as excited as Krane. She started dancing around the room and soon, nearly everyone in the lab had joined them. "This never happened in Johto," Growlithe commented. "Did this sort of thing happen in Unova, Airina?"

"Not as far as I'm aware, Growlithe."

The lab was so excited that they did not hear the sound of a helicopter landing.

* * *

Wes hated flying. He preferred being on, or slightly above, solid ground whilst he rode on his hover bike. The only reason he had gone to Unova was because Rui had insisted and he had felt the need to get away from Orre. Sadly, they had hit turbulence on that flight which made Wes regret his decision. This time, he was only flying because he knew he had to. This time, the turbulence had been much worse.

The moment they hit the ground, he slid his door open and dived out. "OH SWEET SOLID GROUND!" he shouted, rubbing himself against the grass beneath him. "Let's never fly again, Rui. Let's stay rooted to the ground forever."

"Shh," Rui whispered, "you'll wake up the entire lab with that racket."

Michael, who had just jumped out and was helping Jovi get down, said, "It sounds as though the entire lab is already awake."

They all shut up and listened intently. Shouts could be heard from inside. "Jovi hears Mummy and Professor Krane," Jovi commented. "Michael, is this like that time Jovi heard Mummy and Professor Krane that one night."

Michael cringed. "No Jovi, this is nothing like that," he said. Wes sniggered as he sent out his pokemon. "It sounds like they're celebrating. But at this time in the morning?"

"Wow, you nerds really do go over the top with you're celebrations, don't you?" Wes said cheekily, resulting in an elbow in the ribs from Rui. After recovering, Wes sent out the rest of his team; a Krookodile, an Eelektross and a Hydreigon. He quickly recalled the Hydreigon before it started attacking Umbreon (who it seemed to loath). Togetic flew happily by his head. "I don't know how you cope with doing that so much." The Togetic chirped happily in response.

Rui released her pokemon as well, since they had not had a stretch since before they got to Mistralton airport. She sent out a Leafeon, Glaceon, Haxorus, Zebstrika, Quagsire and Meinshoo. They stretched themselves whilst Wes' pokemon play fought (except for Togetic).

Michael figured that his pokemon could wait a bit longer since they had been out just before they took off. Jovi however, couldn't wait to see her single pokemon-an Eevee-and sent it out as soon as she noticed the others sending out theirs.

The now large group, as well as the helicopter pilots, made their way into the lab. Inside, the receptionist stirred and looked up at the group, wide eyed with surprise. "Michael!" she said with delight. "I didn't know you and Jovi would be home so soon. And I see you brought guests."

"When we heard about Cipher's attack, Professor Krane arranged transport to get us home as soon as we could," Michael replied.

"Well, that explains the strange choice of décor," Wes said, looking at the broken plant pots and charred walls that Airina and Growlithe had not noticed earlier.

"Oh yes," Michael said, turning back to the receptionist, "These are Rui and Wes. They fought against Cipher nearly six years ago."

"Wait, you mean the legendary heroes of Orre?!" the receptionist gasped. "Cipher doesn't stand a chance! But I'm just glad you're okay, Michael."

"Somebody's got themselves an admirer," Wes said, condescendingly to Michael.

Michael frowned at him whilst the receptionist blushed. "I'm starting to wonder if Cipher have a very good chance." Another cheer rose up from down the corridor. "Anyway, what's going on in the lab?"

"That's a good question," she replied, with no clue about it. "I didn't notice the shouting."

Michael stared at her, wondering how she missed the shouting. "This is why I picked a ginger," Wes chuckled, pulling Rui close. Michael looked down and shook his head slowly.

After conversing with the receptionist, they made their way down the corridor, minus the helicopter pilots who had grabbed some supplies and gone back to the helicopter. Michael opened the door to the lab and gasped. People were gathered around an angry Ferroseed that was in the middle of the purification chamber (the circular device). A green glow engulfed the Ferroseed and, suddenly, it calmed down. The people let out a cheer again.

"Why are you cheering so much-" Michael began, but stopped suddenly and gasped as he saw what was in the middle of the pedestal. "That...that's the relic fragment! How did you get that!"

Everyone turned around and cheered as they realised that Michael was back. After various greetings, hugs and explanations about who the guests, Michael repeated the same question.

"You can thank our friends here," Krane answered, pointing, once again, at Growlithe and Airina. For the first time since they had arrived, the group noticed the quiet Altaria and Growlithe, sat in one corner of the room.

"Are you serious?!" Wes cried out. "You are some of Orre's top minds and you rely on two pokemon to get anything done! That's ridiculous, eh Rui?" When he got no response, he turned to her. "Hey, Rui, are you even listening?"

Rui, however, was in a world of her own. She was staring at the very center of the relic fragment, where the hourglass was, with her eyes shut. Then she stared at the Growlithe. The aura that she could see linked them together by a bright strand of white. "Rui. Rui."

She opened her eyes to notice that Wes was staring at her, concerned. "Rui, are you okay?" She looked around, hoping she had not made a scene. Everyone other than Wes were chatting to each other.

Sighing with relief, she said, "I'm fine dear. I just noticed something that could be vital. I need Espeon to remove the hourglass from the relic fragment."

"Wait-WHAT! You want to desecrate an ancient relic!? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. And who are you to talk? When we first journeyed through Orre, you seemed fine with removing it."

"Of course, but removing it and breaking it are two completely different matters." He sighed. "Why do you want to break it?"

"That Growlithe over there. The one who, coincidently had the fragment, is an aura guardian, although he doesn't know it yet. The white aura, or fate as you know it, connects the two of them so intensely. If he does not have the hourglass, he will fail in his task."

"What does a Growlithe's task have to do with us?"

"Because the maiden is awakening. And if she is allowed to wake fully, death awaits us all."

"Is that aura-speak for 'the end of the world'?"

"In some ways, yes."

"Okay, fine." Wes called his Espeon over. "Rui wants you to carefully remove the carved hourglass from the relic fragment."

"I see no problem with that," Espeon replied, trotting over to the purification chamber. He focused on the hourglass and it popped out of the fragment, landing on the ground. It left two triangular pieces of stone where the holes in the hourglass were. Almost everyone in the room turned around and gasped.

Rui picked up the hourglass, fully aware of the eyes on her. She closed her eyes and found the green aura from the fragment so bright that she had to open them again. "I'm sorry," she said timidly, "but this part of the tablet belongs to Growlithe," everyone gasped again, "who will save us all. The threads of aura bind these two together. You are an aura guardian Growlithe."

Growlithe glanced around the room. All eyes were on him. "Airina, how can I possibly be an aura guardian? I've never seen aura before."

"I understand that you are confused, but all guardians start, unable to see." Rui no longer felt as though she was speaking. The words were merely flowing from her mouth.

"How can you tell what I am saying? You're a human."

"I am able to communicate through your aura. I am a human aura guardian." She now held out the hourglass for Growlithe. "This belongs to you. It is your destiny."

"Hold on." Rui was snapped back to reality. Professor Krane stood to the side of the two of them. "I understand that this being in the possession of Growlithe is important, but what about the purification chamber? Without the centrepiece, can we still purify shadow pokemon?"

Rui closed her eyes and examined the relic fragment. "Yes, there is still plenty of cleansing aura that Celebii imbued into the tablet." Michael looked through the device on his head. He nodded to Krane.

"Well, if it is necessary," Krane said, staring at the hourglass, "I guess the fragment doesn't look that much worse without it, and as long as it has the power for us to use it."

"Where am I going to keep it?" Growlithe queried, "I've had the fragment in my mouth for long enough and I don't plan on keeping any part of it there again."

A scientist rummaged through a draw and pulled out a ball of string. He tossed it at Krane who attempted, unsuccessfully to catch it. It fell to the ground and rolled to Lily's feet. Picking the ball up, she walked over to Growlithe and wrapped a small amount of string around the back of his neck, making it hang down to the top of his stomach. "Anyone have any scissors?" Lily asked.

In response, another scientist prepared to hurl a pair of scissors across the lab. "Please just pass them," Krane said, covering his face. Lily soon got the scissors and cut the string from the ball. She then took the hourglass and tied the two ends of the string through the top triangular hole. The hourglass sank so that the knot was in one corner of the triangular hole.

"That should do," Lily said, happily looking at Growlithe. Growlithe found the weight of the stone hourglass barely noticeable. Airina commented that it suited him and all of the scientists cheered again.

The celebrations were about to begin again, when Wes interrupted them. "Listen," he said sharply, looking out of the window, "the sun is nearly fully up, meaning we have given Cipher several hours advantage on top of what they already had." He turned to face the various people in the room. "We need to formulate a plan, and quickly."

All eyes fell on professor Krane. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked. "I'm not a bloody fighter. I'm a scientist."

"If you're not going to help then professor," Wes replied, sighing, "we will have to rely on the actual fighters. Michael, you have fought Cipher before. The Altaria and the Growlithe are working for some crazy group who want to see Cipher destroyed and Rui and I destroyed Cipher in the first place." He looked at the rest. "Any of the rest of you fighters?" Unsurprisingly, no hands went up, except Jovi's, whose hand was quickly lowered by Lily.

"Well then," Wes continued, "you can kindly GET OUT! And bring some coffee. Sleeping in a helicopter is not pleasant."

The various scientists and workers filed out of the room, reluctantly, leaving the three humans, Growlithe, Airina and Wes and Rui's pokemon. Wes paced back and forward in a clichéd way. "We need a plan, people...and pokemon I guess."

"We have no idea where their base is at all, or where they plan to attack," Rui commented.

"They'd probably attack somewhere important," Michael chipped in, "like Realgam tower."

"Yeah," Wes replied, "except, what would be the point in attack a tower that is currently closed and no-one is paying attention to?"

"Hmm, I guess so," Michael said. "As far as I'm aware, Citadark Island is abandoned, but what about the shadow lab? That place with that creepy..." he shuddered, "Lovrina girl."

"Lovrina?" Wes said incredulously. "What kind of name is that? Even by Orre's standards, that's strange. But you might be on to something."

"You know, whilst I was at the Resistance HQ, I did overhear something about a shadow lab that is in use," Airina said to Rui, who translated.

"So it's settled then," Wes said eagerly. "Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. I don't have my hover bike with me."

"And by the sounds of things, all of the lab's vehicles have been either stolen or destroyed by Cipher," Michael added. "Looks like we will need to walk."

"Too hell with that!" Wes exclaimed. "We have pokemon! Rui and I can fit on her Zebstrika" (said Zebstrika gave him a glare, but agreed when Rui asked if it was okay) "and you must have something big enough to carry you Michael. Not that it would need to be particularly big considering your size." He took a sip of coffee that had been brought to them by the receptionist.

Michael glared at him, then grinned and sent out a Dragonite. Wes reeled backwards as it burst out of the pokeball. "This big enough?" Michael asked innocently.

"Hell, I really misjudged you," Wes said in awe, "I didn't think you would have such a badass pokemon."

"I wouldn't say you were that good a judge of character anyway," Rui said, deadpan.

"In that case," Wes said, completely dismissing Rui's comment, "We shall head off right now." They returned their pokemon and dashed out of the door as fast as they could.

* * *

Airina and Growlithe were now flying. Near them, Michael flew on his Dragonite and below them, Wes and Rui rode the Zebstrika. "I need to explain all of this to you Growlithe," Airina said above the wind.

"You mean why, instead of returning to the Under, we are flying to a dangerous laboratory with three rather strange humans?" Growlithe asked.

"Exactly," she replied. "I think that Jirachi wants the relic fragment for her own personal gain."

"Why would she want the relic fragment? And if she does, why did she only ask us to take it as a last resort?"

"Perhaps she already knew that Cipher would win that battle."

"But how? She doesn't even have precognitive powers."

"She might not be as cursed as she suggests she is. Hell, she might not even be cursed at all." Growlithe stared at her. Airina sighed, "Sorry, maybe I'm crazy, or just clutching at straws. I just don't trust her."

Growlithe shrugged and all was silent until the sound of engines broke it. "What the hell?" Growlithe questioned. They turned around to see a huge silver ship, not dissimilar to the ones in relic forest. On the side of the hull, next to the Cipher insignia, the words, 'the Seeker', were written.

Turrets swivelled towards Airina and Growlithe. Cannon fire shot towards them that Airina was barely able to dodge. Michael and Dragonite were forced to swerve away from them, and below, Zebstrika started running as far from the explosions as possible.

Airina banked, attempting to get away from the ship. She flew over the deck and reached the right-hand side of it. Neither of them noticed a small tube appear from the side of the hull and launch a pokeball straight towards them.

Growlithe turned just in time to see the ball. He cried out, then it collided with Airina. She was sucked into the pokeball and Growlithe could do nothing but watch as he plummeted to the ground far below and the pokeball was sucked back into the tube, disappearing into the bowels of the ship.

He felt a thump as he hit the sand below and was vaguely aware of seeing brown spikes and a black tail before he passed out.

* * *

Jirachi sat in her seat and sighed. She was alone. Donovan was out, supervising the organisation of supplies. Completely alone. Then why did she feel as if she was being watched. She swivelled in her chair to get a good look at the room. She did not see any sign of pokemon, not even the slight irregularity in the room where a pokemon attempted to camouflage itself.

She thought back to something niggling at the back of her mind. Something the shade had said. "I didn't order him to spy on you. If I had, he wouldn't have been noticed." Paranoia was setting in. That's what Jirachi told herself.

Of course, it had to be that. She had lost her ability to sense the presence of others during...well, 'that incident'. Yet she was sure that there were eyes watching her. She was shaken. So much so, that when a Sableye walked in and said, "Excuse me, Miss Jirachi" she nearly had a heart attack.

She settled down and looked at the imp. "What is it?"

"We have received word from the Shade. Growlithe has been found."

A smile spread across Jirachi's face. "We have! Wonderful!" _No news of that stupid Altaria. Even better. _"We need to bring him home. Could you bring Donovan here so we can organise a group to bring them back?"

"Is that really necessary?" the Sableye asked. "The Shade should be able to bring Growlithe back safely with her own group."

Jirachi's smile faded for about a second. She did not like her orders being questioned. "Ah, you make a good point. Ensure that she gets here as soon as possible."

"As you wish." With this, Sableye turned. During his turn, his eyes glinted at a Banette who was completely invisible in one corner of the room. The Banette gave him a nod, then turned back to Jirachi. Sableye faded out of the room. Jirachi prayed that Growlithe had the relic fragment. Otherwise, there were only two possibilities; either the relic fragment was destroyed or worse, in Cipher's hands.


	15. Into the laboratory

**AN: Somehow, this chapter took way less time than the last. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take too long either.**

* * *

Growlithe awoke merely a few minutes after he hit the sand. The roar of engines was faint now and mostly drowned out by the desert winds. He looked up to see that the ship was far in the distance, seemingly descending. He replayed his last few moments of consciousness in his mind and found himself shouting; "Airina!"

"Good, you're awake," a gruff voice said. Growlithe turned to see a Sandslash looking at him. "I was worried that you might be more severely injured, but you seem to be able to take a good deal of punishment. Just like your mother."

Growlithe's eyes widened. "My mother! How did you know my mother?"

The Sandslash gave a slight grin. "I suppose we never really saw each other much, since you took my place in the party. I am Richmond and I used to belong to Max."

Growlithe gasped. He vaguely remembered the Sandslash, but then he left with some other pokemon. Max had been sad for the rest of the day. "So you left because, you joined the Resistance."

"Indeed. Spice, Airina and I were all members of the Resistance. It seemed fitting for me to leave to help the Resistance whilst you were growing up under your mother's and Max's care."

In an instant, a black Kecleon materialised in between the two of them. Growlithe recognised her as 'the Shade' from the meeting in the Under. "Sorry to break up the reunion," she said, "but I've informed Jirachi that you're safe Growlithe. Despite this, we need to find Airina. We can't leave her behind, even if Jirachi doesn't care."

"Huh, Jirachi doesn't care about Airina?" Growlithe inquired. "Why?"

"I don't really know. The two have never-" She stopped, staring at Growlithe's stomach. "You have the relic fragment!? Thank goodness. Keep it out of the hands of Cipher, at all costs!"

"Don't worry, I will."

"Sorry to interject," Richmond said, "but what are we going to do about Airina? Right now, Cipher are probably putting her through pure hell."

"I've scouted around a bit," the Shade replied, "and that ship seemed to be descending beyond that dune." She pointed to a sand dune in the distance. "I'll send you two there."

"Hold on, we are not sending Growlithe in there," Richmond said with concern. "He needs to be safe. Not walking into a death trap."

"By the time you get there, if Cipher want Airina to be a shadow pokemon, she will be one. If you want to get her out alive, you're going to need the relic fragment and a guardian."

"Err, I don't actually know how to use this thing," Growlithe interjected, gesturing to the fragment.

"You'll know when the time comes," the Shade replied. "Now go. I'll inform Jirachi that you'll be back soon." She faded, leaving Richmond and Growlithe. They gave each other a look, then set off towards the dunes and, ultimately, the Shadow laboratory.

* * *

Ein walked down a corridor of the shadow lab. His lab. He chuckled to himself as he felt the pokeball in his pocket with his hand. He had caught one of the prominent members of the Resistance. Too bad he had missed the oh so important Growlithe, but the snag cannon in his ship was merely a prototype and, since Stephanie had been working on it's development, it would, most likely, not be completed any time soon.

Howls of pokemon pierced the hallways as he turned a corner. A peon wearing ear-muffs nodded at him as he passed. Ein did not wear any ear protection. He had gotten used to the howls and screeches. He thought of better sounds to drown out the noise. His Manetric's cry, his favourite song, Lovrina's voice.

Everyday, hundreds of shadow pokemon were produced in the shadow lab. Whilst the process was described as 'closing the door to it's heart', it was much more than that. It was a process of losing it's mind. Ein had created it all. The unleashing of a pokemon's full potential. The screeching, the howling, the pain. It was all his fault. No. Not entirely. The most dangerous shadow pokemon, the 'XD series' were created by Lovrina.

His thoughts continued to wander as he walked into an unoccupied room. Inside, a large machine hung down from the ceiling. The bottom of it ended in a conical shape with a flat tip. A lens was embedded in said tip. Below the machine was a table with several manacles to keep a pokemon from moving. This machine was designed for an average sized flying type. There were rooms that could hold a Wailord, or worse, a legendary.

Ein sent out his Manetric. "You know what to do," he said softly. Manetric nodded solemnly. Next, Ein sent out the Altaria. The avian fell to the table and did not even have time to cry out before Manetric unleashed a thunder wave, paralysing her. "Count yourself lucky," Ein whispered, "you're not in the same situation as some of the pokemon here." She struggled and squawked as he bound her into place, but he could not hear her curses. Manetric, however, could. It let out a single, soft howl, then turned away, allowing Ein to commit the atrocity.

He flicked some switches and pressed a few buttons. From the machine, a purple laser shot out at her heart. Airina found herself unable to move at all and her emotional state heightened. All she could do was howl as other machine attachments began to tear her apart.

* * *

Richmond looked out from behind a small dune. Behind it, stood a seemingly small white bunker. However, the entire place looked like a military compound. It was surrounded on all sides by two buzzing laser beams. A gate was placed in between two sets of laser beams, guarded by a whole troop of peons. Large spotlights were stationed around the bunker-not switched on. Next to the bunker, Ein's ship, 'the Seeker', sat, almost as large as the bunker itself. Growlithe stood next to Richmond, hidden behind the dune.

Growlithe heard Richmond swear. "They've already got the generator up and running! How the hell are we going to get into the bloody compound now?" Growlithe gave him a questioning look. "Oh yeah," Richmond said, moving back into the cover of the dune, "I forgot you weren't there last night. Basically, Circuit and her group managed to blow up the shadow lab's generator earlier to hinder progress on that shadow machine." Growlithe gave him another confused look. "You know, Circuit. Yeah, she's not a very memorable character, I know." Once again, he received a confused look from Growlithe. He sighed. "Just forget it."

Silence followed that statement like a fat man to an 'all you can eat' buffet. The fat man then burst as the faint sound of a motor, followed by the sound of very crackly music, could be heard. Growlithe and Richmond looked into the distance and noticed a brown coach headed in the direction of the lab. Both of them apparently got the same idea at the same time since they said; "We could cling on to the bottom of the coach!" in unison.

"You do realise that if we get caught we will, most likely, both be added to their ranks of shadow pokemon, Growlithe," Richmond added with concern.

"You? Probably," Growlithe replied. "Me? They'll probably present me to their boss. Then kill me!" he added for good measure.

Richmond chuckled, "Somehow I doubt you'll let them."

Growlithe said something in reply that Richmond never heard because it was drowned out by the coach engines and the sound of radio Orre's top news presenter announcing; "We have received news that Hoenn has a new champion. Apparently they decided to tell us a week later than all of the other regions. The champion still remains nameless-well, in Orre anyway. Doesn't this make you wish we had our own league?"

The coach stopped at the gate, breaking very sharply. A peon walked up to the driver's window. Richmond and Growlithe took their chance to dash under the coach. Growlithe grabbed onto a rather dirty pipe with his teeth-much to his disgust-and curled his body around it. Richmond, being well trained in stealth, managed to perfectly fit, upside-down, in between two pipes.

They soon realised that they could have crawled to the coach and still had time to find a good place under it. The sound of the radio was now being drowned out by the agitated voice of the coach driver. "Ahm tellin' ya, ahm Drova," the strangely named driver argued, "ya let me in last week with a bunch-a machine parts. Why won'tcha let me in now?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I still need to see your ID before I can let you in," the peon said calmly.

"Ah had mah ID just this mornin', then it disappeared. Let me just go over mah day an' see if ah can work out where it be." The peon sighed as Drova started recounting his day. "...See, mah toast wasn't ordinary toast this mornin', it was perfectly golden brown an' crispy, like that time ah once tried fried Tentacool. Ya see, I wanted to try something new at this here restaurant and..." Growlithe and Sandslash exchanged glances.

After almost ten minutes, Drova finally ended his tale. "So ah taught that no good rotten Pansear a lesson in how not to break down a castle wall and so, mah ID must be in mah pocket." The peon groaned as Drova pulled out an ID from his pocket. The peon reviewed the ID and cleared him to pass. Lurching forward, the coach sped through the compound where marching peons had to dive out of the way. _"Whoever hired him deserves to be sacked," _the peon thought as the gate shut behind him.

The coach drove into a garage of sorts on one side of the shadow lab. After it stopped, inches from the back wall, a series of new recruits bundled off of it, happy to get into the cool of the air conditioning-turned up to full blast-and away from the crazy driver, who was now attempting to direct them into the wrong room. A peon corrected them, sending them through a door labelled 'briefing room'.

Once all of the new recruits had entered the briefing room, Drova walked up to the peon guarding the door that he had almost sent the recruits into and grabbed her by the arm. "Now mah day began..." he warbled cheerfully as he recounted a completely different account of his day, dragging the peon out of the lab.

Growlithe and Richmond waited until they were sure the coast was clear (which was when they could not hear Drova going on about the various ingredients he added to his porridge to make it spicy enough for him), then they crawled out from under the bus-Growlithe spitting out dirt and dust-and examined the choice of doors they had in front of them. Other than the briefing room, they also had; 'the testing zone', 'the recreation room', 'to Ein's personal office', 'the construction zone', 'the garden' and 'the interrogation room'.

Richmond immediately tried the door to Ein's office. He found it locked and sealed tightly. "Which door do you think we should choose, Growlithe?"

"I'm not sure," Growlithe replied, staring at the large number of choices, "maybe the tes-" he stopped suddenly. "Hey, I think I've found something."

Running over, Richmond asked, "What is it?"

As he reached Growlithe, he noticed he was staring at the wall, still inches from the coach's bonnet. "It's a door marked 'main hallway'," Growlithe replied.

"Hmm, it could be dangerous to use a main corridor." Richmond then shrugged. "Well, we have no better ideas. Let's give it a shot."

He put his claws against the door and it slid open. After checking the coast was clear, the duo passed through the door and descended a flight of stairs before arriving at a right hand turn. Peeking around the corner, all Richmond saw a flash of colour appear in the corridor before he hid again. A flash of colour could only mean one thing. A high ranking peon.

"What is it," Growlithe whispered, poking his head around the doorway. Immediately, he started running down the corridor.

"What the HELL, Growlithe!?" Richmond cried, running after him. As he got further down the corridor, he saw, not a high ranking peon like he had expected, but a girl in her early adult years. He also saw a Shelgon pounce upon Growlithe.

He ran up to the Shelgon a unleashed a slash attack on it's shell. His claws did no damage and the Shelgon turned to him. "What do you think you're doing?" she growled, "I'm trying to have a heart-warming reunion and you come in here with your scratching claws." She leered at him.

"I'm, sorry?" Richmond replied, overcome with confusion. "You're acquainted with Growlithe? How?"

"We were his original friends, before he became caught up in all this Resistance mumbo-jumbo," Shelgon answered, getting off of Growlithe who was looking rather squashed. "Normally it's the other way around," she chuckled, earning Growlithe a disbelieving stare from Richmond.

"For Arceus sake, it's not what you think," Growlithe sighed, addressing Richmond.

Marcia looked down at the Sandslash now. "Hey Growlithe, who's this then?"

"That's Richmond, he was in part of my old trainer's team and a member of the Resistance."

"Ah," she replied, choosing not to ask any further questions. Then she thought about something. "What happened to that Altaria you were with? The one that saved my life."

She noticed that upon saying this, Growlithe looked down solemnly. Richmond growled, a fierce look in his eyes. "We're here to rescue her. And give team Cipher what they deserve." Growlithe translated this, not trusting Shelgon to do it, since she was already attempting to convince Marcia that Richmond was telling her to kill herself.

"Oh, right," Marcia replied, ignoring Shelgon.

"Wait a minute," Growlithe said, suddenly, "how did you get in here, and why?"

"It was unintentional, really," she answered, "Pyrite was swarming with Cipher peons, all after me, so I found this tunnel which somehow took me here." Richmond glanced at Growlithe. He knew of no such tunnel that went straight from Pyrite to the shadow lab. There were blocked up tunnels in the Under, but he had never heard of one from Pyrite.

They continued to walk down the corridor until a scientist appeared in the corridor. He turned and looked at them. "Hey! What do you think you're doing in here?"

"Oh crap." Richmond murmured.

As the scientist reached them, they prepared to battle. Then the scientist grumbled, "You must be a new recruit." Everyone eased up. "You really should be wearing a uniform. I'll go get you one. Just wait there." He walked into a side room.

"What was that about?" Marcia asked.

Before anyone could answer, the scientist returned with a white Cipher peon uniform, one white helmet and three yellow helmets. He gave the uniform and white helmet to Marcia. "Here you go. If you want to have your pokemon out, they have to wear these helmets," he added, putting a yellow helmet on Growlithe and Richmond. He then got to Shelgon and attempted to put the helmet on her. This went on for several minutes as Marcia managed to put the uniform over her clothes and don the helmet. She then returned Shelgon to her pokeball, noticing the scientist's cries of frustration.

"If we're done then," the scientist said, getting up, "follow me, we need some more peons on guard." So Marcia, Richmond and Growlithe followed the scientist down a side corridor, not noticing the rather snazzily dressed scientist watching them at the end of the corridor.

* * *

Ein watched as one of the new recruits with her Growlithe and Sandslash followed a scientist down a side corridor. For a moment, he thought he saw the man just hand a disguise to two of Cipher's biggest enemies. Then he thought better of the situation. The girl had been, pretty much completely trapped in Pyrite and the Growlithe was, most likely, unconscious in the sand. And he was sure the girl had not had a Sandslash when he had read the report from Selena. He put it down to exhaustion.

He headed down a completely different corridor. He desperately needed sleep. He knew he would, likely not get any more sleep until tomorrow night. He had never expected to get involved with crazy things like world domination or giving people-particularly corrupt people-godly power. He had joined Cipher because Evice had promised him his own lab and an opportunity to work with pokemon for good pay. At the time, that was all the persuading he had needed. Now he was beginning to question the motives.

With Evice practically being the head of everything and Selena merely organising his plans, nothing would work out for Cipher in the end. As long as a raving lunatic held the power-soon godly power-and spouted nonsense about world domination, Cipher would crumble. Ein felt that the way for Cipher to succeed would be to have a half-decent goal, a leader who actually knew what they were talking about and to aim for better regions.

What was the point in taking over Orre anyway. Sure, the two police officers would probably never notice, since Pyrite's best citizens gave them enough trouble as it was. However, if they did succeed-how they had failed twice already was crazy-no other regions would take any notice anyway.

And then there were the advisers. It did not take much of a mind to realise that they were running the show. They clearly had a way with words and used it to manipulate Evice to their wills. Whether they bothered with Selena was another thing in itself. Ein had to wonder why they did not just take control of Cipher themselves. And then there was project zero...

Ein reached the door to his office. It was set right under the right-hand corner of the compound, just under his ship. He twisted open the door and looked over at the machine in the centre of the room. It was in the shape of a metal box, big enough to fit a large human in and had a semi-cylindrical indent in it with strips of metal, used to keep the user in place. Several mechanical arms with varying attachments were placed around the indent. Lovrina was tinkering with it before she turned to him. "You look like you've had a rough night," she said.

"That really doesn't matter right now," Evice replied, yawning, "how much do we still need to do to the Chaos machine?"

"Well, we still need to install the emotion laser transmitter instead of that thing," she said, systematically, pointing at a mechanical arm with a syringe, filled with dark purple liquid, on the end. "Also, several additional features, such as the cup holder, have not been installed."

"A cup holder!" Ein exclaimed. "That could take weeks work to get done! And as for the emotion laser transmitter, we really don't have time to install one," he looked at his watch, "plus we don't know if it will affect our 'special' brew of the emotional raiser."

He felt something in his pocket. "Oh yeah, I have this for you." He threw the pokeball at Lovrina who expertly caught it. "It's that dratted Altaria from the Resistance. I caught it, on my way back to the lab, with the prototype snag cannon. I've already 'upgraded' it for you." He turned to go into a side room. "We have several hours before we're due at Realgam tower, so I'm going for a nap. Hold the fort whilst I'm gone."

"Of course, darling," Lovrina said, staring at the pokeball. It was coloured purple and white, instead of the traditional red and white, to mark that it was a shadow pokemon. She added it to the rest of the pokeballs on her belt-making a total of seven-then went over to the computer to see if she could find anything to do whilst she waited. Maybe continue writing that fan fiction she had started.

* * *

The scientist who had spoken to Marcia had told her to guard a room labelled 'pokemon food storage', adding that he could swear that someone was stealing goods from it, then walked off down the corridor. Naturally, as soon as he was out of sight, they began their search. "I sincerely doubt that they would keep her in a pokemon food storage," Marcia commented, looking in a window, allowing her a view of hundreds of crates labelled 'pokemon food'.

"Unless they mean pokemon food in a different meaning, I am fairly certain you are correct," Richmond replied, "and, as far as I'm aware, Cipher don't eat Altaria."

"So, where do we start," Growlithe asked.

"Well, I'm wondering if the place where they create shadow pokemon is a good place to start," Richmond answered, "but I don't have a clue where that is. Marcia, we should take a look at that map that the scientist guy gave you."

Marcia pulled out the folded piece of paper she had obtained and groaned. "How the hell do you read this?" The map was a very complicated diagram, showing a maze-like system of various corridors, spreading across four floors. To make matters worse, all of the air vents were marked, for some strange reason. As if that was not enough, none of the rooms were labelled. Instead, everything was colour coded, except the code was not stated anywhere on the map.

"Right, so we are in the yellow section," Growlithe noted, "which appears to be the storage section." He looked around at the different rooms in the corridor-storing everything from weapons to novelty Buneary ears.

"Well, knowing Cipher, I'm willing to bet that they make shadow pokemon in the area marked by purple," Marcia said, pointing to a large space on the bottom floor, covered in purple, "but how do we get down?"

"Hmm, well no lifts appear to be marked, but you must have come up a staircase to get here, Marcia," Richmond commented.

"Indeed I did," Marcia replied, "it was on a side corridor, near where we met. I went up it to try and find a way out. And to try and find out where I was to begin with."

"I'm willing to bet that's what this is," Richmond said with a grin, pointing at a rectangle of green on the map which spanned across all four floors.

"Then let's go there already," Growlithe said, impatiently. The trio set off down the corridor, back to where they started. Once they were out of sight, a peon popped out of, seemingly, nowhere. He was carrying a large sack and sneaked into the pokemon food storage room, coming out moments later with a full sack.

* * *

After about an hour of aimlessly wandering about and cursing themselves for not paying attention to where they were going when they followed the scientist, the trio managed to find the stairs. They descended the staircase to the bottom and walked along another winding corridor until they reached what they assumed was the purple section.

In front of them was a large set of doors with a peon dressed in black, guarding it. "Halt!" he commanded. "Do you have clearance?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm new here," Marcia replied, innocently, "I haven't been issued an ID badge yet. They assigned me on fourth floor guard duty."

"Yeesh, first day and you have guard duty in the corruption zone. I feel sorry for you kid." He handed her a pair of ear-muffs. "You'll need these."

"Why?"

"You'll see when you get in," the peon said ominously as he pressed a button. "Good luck." Marcia donned her ear-muffs as the door opened. Even with them on, she could here a faint noise. Like a cry, maybe. She walked through and the door sealed itself behind her.

As they walked down the corridor, they became aware of the cries slowly getting louder. Growlithe felt particularly uneasy. They turned a corner and the cries became almost too much to bear. Even for Marcia. Doors lined the corridor and windows allowed views into the rooms just like every other corridor in the lab. What was bad about the corridors was what could be seen through the windows.

They got views of pokemon being tortured through the use of various methods. Some were attacked by various pieces of machinery. Others suffered more psychological torture, forcing them to live their worst nightmares. The views were made worse for Growlithe. Since obtaining the relic fragment, he had started to be able to see shadow auras when he closed his eyes and feel them when he did not have his eyes closed. He could see faint purple outlines on pokemon who had not been tortured for very long and vivid purple ones on those that had been in there for a long time.

This only got worse as time progressed. Slowly, he started to feel physically sick. What was ahead was worse than just shadow pokemon. They soon got to glance upon where the loudest cries were coming from. Inside each room was a pokemon, or rather, what was once a pokemon. Each one was chained up much tighter than the other pokemon. Buzzing blades tore them to shreds and machines were attached to their heads, most likely psychologically torturing them.

The creatures being tortured were horrifying. They were a mixture of purple and light grey, with sinister red eyes. Their forms were merely a shadow of their past selves. They howled much louder than the others, but their howls sounded nothing like the pokemon's howl that they represented. Growlithe began to feel dizzy. Richmond noticed this and asked if he was okay.

"What...are those...those things?" Growlithe managed to gasp. Both Marcia and Richmond attempted to get him further up the corridor, where they hoped that no more pokemon were being 'corrupted'. After a few minutes, Growlithe seemed to ease out, at least to the point that he was at when he was near shadow pokemon.

They walked into a room labelled 'pokemon storage'. Growlithe's fur immediately began to stand on end. In the room were cages upon cages of shadow pokemon-not the abominations that were further down the corridor. Growlithe looked at the two who were with him. "We have to free and purify them. The Shade said that I'd be able to use the relic fragment, when the time comes." He glanced around the room for any hidden cameras he could find. Upon noticing there were none, he brought the fragment up, with his paw, towards the first cage. "Well, here goes."

* * *

A flashing tab appeared on Lovrina's computer screen. _"Probably one of those idiotic newbies __accidentally walking into a room they shouldn't have," _Lovrina thought, for the third time in the last hour. This time, however, she was wrong. She clicked on the tab, which caused a security camera to appear in the room in question. She gasped when she saw what was on the screen. A Growlithe was holding what appeared to be the relic fragment, walking towards one of the cages that contained her precious shadow pokemon.

Lovrina immediately set off the alarm from her computer and sent a warning out to go to the corruption zone. She picked up her phone and dialled a number as Ein walked into the room, half dazed.

After five rings, the phone was picked up on the other end. "Yes, what is it?"

"We have a problem, Evice," Lovrina answered, "the Growlithe is in the lab! And worse, he has the relic fragment that Odan supposedly destroyed!"

There was a curse at the end, followed by a few mumbles of speech, then Evice replied, "We cannot allow for mistakes. Blow up the lab. Ensure that the Growlithe, any of his friends and most importantly, the relic fragment are still in it."

"But what about our work?! And the shadow pokemon?!"

"It can all be replaced. Load up the Chaos machine and make your way to Realgam tower. NOW!" With that, the line cut off.

"Okay, so what are we doing," Ein asked, already getting the gist of the conversation.

"We're blowing up the lab. If we set up the traps, the Growlithe should get caught in one whilst we evacuate. We have to load up the Chaos machine and go." Ein just stared at her, stunned.

* * *

Growlithe was about to reach the cage when suddenly, a siren blared, alerting all to their presence. "Well, crap," Marcia uttered. The three of them decided that the best course of action was to run before they got attacked by an onslaught of peons.

They managed to run into the corridor and dive around a corner before an air vent grate fell down in front of them, followed by a peon. "At least we know why the ventilation shafts were on the map," Richmond said dryly.

Luckily the peon was not to bright. "Stop right there!" he bellowed, making a finger gun with his hands. "Don't move or I'll shoot." Richmond ran towards the peon. "You asked for it." He pretended to fire his (literal) hand gun-complete with explosion noises-before Richmond slammed into him, rendering him unconscious.

Ignoring him, they ran on, ignoring the cries of shadow pokemon, until they reached a sealed door, like the one they had entered. For a moment, they thought they were trapped, however, the guard on the other-side of the door was stupid enough to open it, in an attempt to catch them. Like the last peon, he was unarmed, so they just ploughed right through him.

On the ground, he tossed out his pokemon and ordered them to catch the intruders. The Kricketot and Tympole that he had sent out, merely stared blankly at him.

At the top of a staircase, they encountered another peon, this one wearing black. "You won't be going any further," he commented. "I doubt your ground and fire types could match up to the might of my water-types." A Sealeo and a Mantine were sent out of their pokeballs.

Marcia sent out Tropius and Lombre to deal with the threat. Tropius sent razor leaves flying towards the two pokemon whilst Lombre used a mega drain on Sealeo. This proved to be too much for Sealeo who instantly fainted, but Mantine stayed up, not bothered by the leaves flying at it, it flew around them and struck Lombre with a wing attack.

Annoyed, Lombre jumped into the air and gave Mantine a zen headbutt. He managed to land on Mantine and used mega drain, trying to keep himself from falling off Mantine's slippery skin.

Meanwhile, the peon had sent out a Dewgong that Tropius was now engaging in battle. Tropius stomped on the Dewgong, easily, holding it in place and charged up a solar beam. However, the Dewgong spat an ice beam at Tropius. Tropius stumbled backward, releasing Dewgong and sending her solar beam off course.

The solar beam collided with Mantine causing it to spiral into a wall. Lombre was sent flying across the room, still managing to land on his own two feet. The peon growled as he returned Mantine. "Fine. Now you will feel my true wrath. Go Wailord!"

Marcia gasped whilst Tropius and Lombre got as far back as they could. The Wailord was released, dwarfing the room. It landed on Dewgong, crushing the poor pokemon. "Uh-oh," Growlithe said, looking up at the ceiling which was getting cracks in it, due to the size of the Wailord.

"I don't think we should stay here," Richmond said, looking down at the floor which was also cracking with Wailord's weight. Marcia returned Lombre and Tropius, and the three of them ran through a set of doors.

"Hahaha! Run in fear of my Wailord!" the peon laughed, completely oblivious to the impending doom. He heard a large cracking sound. "Oh crap," he managed to whine before the floor and ceiling collapsed, simultaneously. He groaned as he hit the floor, glad that the ceiling debris had missed him. Then his Wailord came tumbling down behind him. The result was not pretty.

* * *

Ein walked back into his office, holding a cup of coffee. Several peons were walking in and out of the office, carrying various boxes and other objects. "So, what's the situation?" he asked Lovrina who was standing by the Chaos machine.

"Growlithe and his friends-one of which we believe to be Marcia-are somewhere in the lab, but we don't know where," she replied. "All of the exits are sealed and we have some of the top peons after them. They have orders to either kill them, or to lure them into a trap."

"Oh right. And what are we to do?" Ein was starting to feel as though he was taking orders from Lovrina. It was his lab they were blowing up. Then again, he was too tired to order others about.

"All of the other peons are loading everything onto your ship and we need to load up the Chaos machine."

_"How the hell is my ship going to fly with that much stuff on it," _Ein thought. "All right then, I'll open the cargo bay doors." He pulled out a square remote, which had a joystick on it, and pressed a button on it. The ceiling of his office opened like a set of automatic double doors, causing sand to cover him. If he was not already incredibly annoyed, he might have been angered by this.

Above them was the open door to the cargo bay. It was a large room that spanned the length of the ship, but only a small part could be seen from the office. He pressed another button, causing a mechanical claw to come to life in the cargo bay. It moved downwards, forcing it's claws underneath the Chaos machine. "Be careful, Ein," Lovrina fretted. Once the machine was safely nestled in the claw, it ascended back into the cargo bay and placed the machine safely away from the cargo bay doors.

"You have no faith in me," Ein chuckled.

"I'm just making sure," Lovrina replied. This received another laugh from Ein.

"You're too funny," Ein said, after a moment. "I'm going to go and load up project zero." With that, he went to the back of his office, where a lift waited. He got into the lift and was sent up, out of the office.

* * *

Growlithe, Richmond and Marcia ran through the halls of the shadow lab. They had fought off hordes of peons and made their way up to the first floor. Marcia had the map out in front of her, trying to make sense of it, so she did not notice a peon until she collided with her.

Both of them fell over, but the peon recovered faster. She pulled out a gun and aimed it at Marcia, who was still struggling to get up. "Looks like I have you right where I want you," she cackled. She wore a purple uniform-one of the highest ranks in Cipher, short of admin. "However, this would be the perfect chance to get some good battling experience. I'll give you a chance. If you win, I'll let you go gallivanting around the lab to get killed by someone else." She smiled maliciously. "If I win-which I will-I'll bring your corpse to Ein myself."

Growlithe considered the stupidity of Cipher, but soon decided against it, knowing full well that they had been granted an opportunity to save themselves. The peon immediately sent out a Gliscor and a Camerupt. Marcia sent out Lombre and Shelgon. Lombre began by firing a water pulse at Camerupt who roared in pain as the attack sent it into a confused status. It launched a series of flame bursts everywhere. Lombre was able to easily avoid any that came his way whilst Shelgon allowed them to collide against her shell, doing minimal damage.

Gliscor was hit worst. Being closest to Camerupt, it got hit by the most flame bursts despite it's high agility. Enraged, it charged at Shelgon with an ice fang. She had not been expecting the attack to hurt so much and cried out as the cold pierced her shell and chilled her body. She unleashed a dragonbreath, partially to warm herself up and partially to hit the Gliscor. It, however, managed to dodge it and hit Shelgon with acrobatics.

Meanwhile, Camerupt had snapped out of it's confusion and was now unleashing rock slides at Lombre. Lombre, however, was able to easily jump out of the way of the oncoming rocks. He landed on one and bounced off it, straight into Camerupt, delivering a rather painful kick to it's forehead. The humps on it's back began to tremor as it prepared for a lava plume. Lombre noticed lava begin to trickle down the pokemon's side, so he fired a water pulse into each hump, causing the lava to rapidly cool and solidify.

Camerupt slowed down considerably, but was completely stopped when Lombre unleashed a zen headbutt into it's side. It fell onto it's side and was unable to right itself. The peon returned the groaning pokemon and released a Muk who, immediately launched a sludge bomb at Lombre.

Before he could react, the sludge exploded, covering him in burning toxic substances and rendering him unconscious. Marcia returned him, but before she could choose her next pokemon, Richmond stepped forward to take on Muk.

Shelgon protected as Gliscor prepared for another ice fang. It hurt it's teeth on the green shield and moved backwards, allowing Shelgon to charge forward with a double edge. She shot through the air and collided with Gliscor (her rock head ability protecting her from the recoil). They hit the ground with a thud, Shelgon crushing Gliscor. It attempted to use a poison jab, but fainted before it could lift a claw.

"Ha. Did you see me!" Shelgon shouted. She winked at Growlithe."You're not the only one who can ride other pokemon." Growlithe groaned. "I could take on anything!" The peon promtly sent out a Froslass.

Marcia sprayed a hyper potion on her. "Go on then," she persuaded, noticing Shelgon's hesitation, "take it down then."

"I hate you," Shelgon replied. She then turned to the Froslass. "Fine then. I doubt you could stand up to a crunch." She charged forward, baring her fangs. Froslass unleashed a blizzard that she did not notice.

Growlithe noticed, however, and fired a heat wave that harmlessly passed through Shelgon's shell, but melted the snow from the blizzard and harmed Froslass. It also collided with Muk, whose body sizzled a bit, but was no worse for wear. "Thanks for the warmth, Growlithe," Shelgon called, not knowing that he had saved her from another ice attack. She then collided with the Froslass and bit into it. It valiantly attempted to launch ice shards at it's attacker, but to no avail.

The peon started to look angry as she returned Froslass. She sent out her fifth pokemon, which was a Tentacruel. Shelgon prepared to attack it, when a sudden shake caused her to trip and lose her balance. Tentacruel was sent, flying into a wall. Luckily for it, it's body was fairly soft and so, took little damage from this collision.

Shelgon glared at Richmond, who had just used earthquake. "Oops, sorry. I kinda forgot," he said sheepishly. The Muk was currently nothing more than a pile of muck (a much more scattered and unconscious pile at that). The peon recalled what was left of her Muk and sent out her last pokemon; a Cryogonal. "Heh heh, I got this," Richmond said and began to charge at the pokemon.

"Come back, Richmond," Marcia called, "you clearly have a type disadvantage and I don't know if I can heal you if you faint."

"Faint? I can take him. You don't know what I can or can't take."

"Who's the pokemon trainer here?"

Richmond looked at her. "Fine," he turned to Growlithe, "give that icy mass some good old fire for me." Growlithe nodded and stepped forward.

Shelgon shot through the air to hit Tentacruel with a double edge, but fell short when she was hit by a sludge wave which knocked her out. Marcia sent out Tropius who had to fly up into the air instantly, to avoid another sludge wave. Seeing Tropius dive down from above, Tentacruel used barrier to raise it's defence. The barrier formed above it, causing Tropius to collide with it. Whilst it gave way easily, it slowed down her momentum and ended up weakening the fly.

Tropius sent a bunch of razor leaves towards Tentacruel, who launched another sludge wave, vaporising them instantly. Tropius flew over it again and fired another set of leaves. Tentacruel chuckled and unleashed another sludge wave. This time, however, the leaves passed straight through the wave and caught Tentacruel off guard. Whilst it was distracted by the magical leaves, Tropius charged up a solar beam and fired it. The beam shot through Tentacruel and knocked it out.

Growlithe had a much easier time with Cryogonal. Since the thing was made out of ice, it merely took just one flamethrower to melt it, despite it's attempt to use light screen. Marcia returned Tropius and stared at the peon who returned her puddle.

"No harm done then," the peon said, a sinister grin forming on her face. "Now I can still carry out my task and my pokemon had a bit of exercise." She reached for her gun.

"You can't do that!" Marcia cried. "You made an agreement! You have to stick to it!"

"I'm a high ranked peon in an organisation who seek world domination," the peon replied, "do you really think I got where I am by keeping promises?"

She brought up her gun, only to be tackled by Growlithe, knocking her to the ground to the ground. The other two just took this opportunity to run, and followed Growlithe. Then the peon brought her gun around and fired it. At the same time, Growlithe stepped on a hidden pressure plate. Then, a heavy, black door came down behind the three of them, making the bullet harmlessly bounce off.

The peon picked herself off the ground. She pulled out a walkie-talkie. "I've caught them, over," she said. Then she turned away and ran to the nearest exit.

Meanwhile, Marcia, Growlithe and Richmond were trapped. On the other side of them was another black door. Richmond attacked it, but was unable to even make a scratch in it. "How the hell are we going to get out of this one," he groaned as he slumped, his back to the door.

Growlithe had a sudden brainwave. "Marcia, don't you have that Steelix?"

"Yeah!" Marcia said optimistically. Then she sighed. "But it won't listen to me. It's a bloody shadow pokemon." She sent it out and asked it to destroy the door. Instead, it started to bang it's head against a wall, making a crack in it.

"Hmm," Growlithe voiced allowed, "maybe I can help." He grabbed the relic fragment with his paw and put it up to Steelix.


	16. Fading shadows

**AN: I've been busy with English coursework lately, but it's over...for now. This is a fairly short chapter compared to the last one. Enjoy it anyway.**

The lift arrived at it's destination very quickly. The doors opened and Ein stepped out. The lift sunk back into the floor. The room was a small box-no bigger than 10 metres square-in a far corner of the lab's compound. Whilst visible from outside, it could easily be over looked, what with the huge ship and all. Originally, it had been build as a safe control room, only accessible from Ein's office, but he soon learnt that it was easier to have the controls in his actual office instead.

Ein turned around and gazed upon project zero. The entire room was pitch black, but Ein knew what was in front of him. The creature was tied up by three chains-purchased from an ex-team Galactic commander on the black market. Chains that not only kept the creature from running, but also suppressed the creature's emotion, will and being.

A voice sounded. It seemed to come from everywhere. "Hello Ein, planning on blowing up the lab I see." The voice did not changed in pitch at all, throughout the entire sentence.

Ein looked in the direction of project zero. "How do you know about that?"

"I'm a psychic," the voice replied, "but you already knew that. Of all the things you suppressed, you didn't think about suppressing my psychic abilities."

"Why should I have need of suppressing your psychic abilities? It doesn't matter what you know, you can't do anything with such knowledge."

"Indeed. Those red chains suppress my will. I don't even want to escape. It's a wonder why I can still voice my thoughts, let alone, talk at all. I should probably be very angry with you, but my emotions have been suppressed too."

"And I suppose you don't know who you are either?"

"No. Every time you think it, I can't seem to grasp it. I guess-and by guess I mean know, since you're thinking it-that is because of the red chains."

Ein mused. A few weeks ago, he would never have expected the chains to work. His thoughts were broken off by the voice again. "You're having second thoughts about you're involvement with Cipher."

The grin on Ein's face faded. "My loyalty to Cipher is sturdy."

"Yes, of course, but the thought of leaving has come across your mind. Especially what you're going to do tomorrow. You've corrupted many pokemon, but the thought of killing really troubles you, doesn't it?"

Ein stared into the darkness for a moment. "How are you talking like this? I thought I'd suppressed enough to stop this sort of talk."

"I'm not talking Ein. I'm merely relaying your thoughts back to you. I couldn't care if you stay or go. Which is because of the red chains, again."

Ein slumped to the ground. "And now, you're regretting leaving my psychic abilities untouched," the voice buzzed.

"Please, just leave me be."

"There's nothing else for me to do-not that I can get bored-unless you actually want to do whatever you brought me here for. Except, you don't know what that is, do you? Otherwise, I'd know."

Ein sat in silence, pondering what had been said to him, barely conscious of the voice commenting on everything in his mind.

* * *

Lovrina was getting anxious. Ein was taking forever to load up project zero and she was concerned that the enemy might have something powerful enough to take down the door. If only she could check via the security cameras, but her computer, along with all the others, had been loaded onto the Seeker.

There was a sudden crash in the nearby corridor, followed by a very quiet jingle-the jingle that played when one used a healing machine. Lovrina cursed. Then the door to the office was ripped off of it's hinges. She had to dive out of the way of it as it flew into the back wall. She picked herself off the ground to find herself face to face with a rather familiar Steelix. She took a few paces backwards and the Steelix growled.

"Okay, where the hell is the Altaria?" Lovrina turned to see a woman in a peon outfit glaring at her. She was accompanied by a Growlithe with the relic fragment, wearing a yellow peon helmet and a Sandslash wearing the same.

"You want the Altaria, do you?" Lovrina asked in a mocking tone. "Well then, go fetch!" She pulled the purple ball from her belt and pretended to throw it. Marcia turned and tried to catch the ball, as did Growlithe and Sandslash. The Steelix, however, was not so distracted. Lovrina remembered her, but it did not seem quite as aggressive, somehow, and was clearly not going to attack until ordered to do so. Whatever they had done to Venus's Steelix had ruined her work.

Lovrina unleashed all of the pokemon from her belt except the Altaria. A Roserade, Beautifly, Reuniclus, Gorebyss, Absol and Porygon Z burst out of their pokeballs. "Go deal with these fools," she commanded as the three heroes turned back around, angry at the lack of Airina. Seeing the pokemon, Marcia sent out Shelgon, Tropius, Lombre and Skuntank-the latter of which just sat their and passed wind, much to the distaste of the others in the room.

Water pulses, psybeams, signal beams, among other attacks, were shot from Lovrina's side. The other group retaliated. As Growlithe was about to join the fray, Marcia turned to him. "Growlithe, can you purify Skuntank for me?" He nodded and walked over to Skuntank.

Lovrina suddenly felt a bit of fear, overhearing the conversation. "Everyone aim for the Growlithe and Skuntank!" she shouted, over the battle. Her pokemon changed their targets and Growlithe was forced to dodge the attacks as he made his way to Skuntank. Meanwhile, said Skuntank was slowly taking more hits, barely noticing them.

"Make a defensive wall to protect Growlithe and Skuntank!" Marcia yelled. The other five pokemon gathered to shield them from the projectiles, but the damage was done. As Growlithe reached Skuntank, it let out a growl and visible red aura welled up around it.

"It's in hyper mode, Marcia," Growlithe cried, "what do I do!?" Unlike last time, the red aura seemed to expand slowly for no apparent reason.

Marcia thought for a moment. She did not have a clue how to snap a pokemon out of hyper mode. Lovrina was now looking over at the Skuntank in curiosity. She cackled as she saw the red aura. "Holy crap! He's about to explode!" Lombre shouted.

Marcia did the only thing she could in her position, short of returning the pokemon. "Skuntank!" she called. "Stop! Please." Skuntank turned to face her and the red aura dissipated. Growlithe took this opportunity to purify Skuntank.

He closed his eyes and raised the relic fragment up to Skuntank's forehead. He could see the pulsing purple aura of it and also the bright green aura of the fragment. Nothing else. The green aura surrounded the purple aura. Growlithe was able to move it with his mind. Then it closed in, slowly crushing the purple aura. Skuntank wailed loudly, but soon fell silent.

Once he was sure that the purple aura was gone, Growlithe opened his eyes and looked up at the Skuntank in front of him. "Pleased to meet you good sir," it said, holding out a paw. Growlithe took it and shook it. "I must thank you for pulling me out of that nightmare."

"Your welcome," Growlithe replied. Suddenly, the defensive wall split apart and a psybeam struck Skuntank in the face. He did not even blink, due to being a dark type.

"Well, as nice as it was to meet you properly, we should probably deal with our attackers, eh," he commented, striding towards the gap in the defensive wall. Growlithe joined him. "Let's see how you like this then!" he shouted, turning around. Suddenly, a jet of flame shot out from his rectum. It hit Beautifly who started flying around, attempting to put it out with gusts of wind.

"That's pretty strong," Growlithe said, between spitting flames, "but does it have to smell so bad?"

"Of course it does," Skuntank replied, "the methane makes it more lethal." Growlithe frowned at this.

Lovrina sprayed full restores on her pokemon, healing them and curing various status conditions, much to the Beautifly's delight. "This isn't working," she yelled, "Gorebyss, separate them!" Her pokemon moved back, leaving Gorebyss at the front.

Marcia's party stopped attacking to see what was happening. Then a large wave welled up in front of Gorebyss and collided with the heroes. Lovrina's party-those who could not fly-made their way onto a table (as did Lovrina herself). The room slowly flooded with water until about two-thirds of the room had filled. With the open roof, had the situation been different, this could have been a nice swimming pool. "I've always wanted to do that!" Lovrina said with delight.

Steelix had completely disappeared by this point, being unable to float, and the others were dragged around by currents caused by Gorebyss using whirlpool. Richmond and Skuntank were sent towards the table-which now floated in the water, somehow able to take a large amount of weight-where Roserade and Absol waited, Lombre was sent over to where Beautifly hovered, Shelgon to Reuniclus, Tropius, who now acted as a platform for Marcia, to Porygon Z and Growlithe to Gorebyss.

Roserade had the advantage over Richmond as it fired magical leaves into the water with no mercy. They targeted Richmond every time he attempted to emerge from the water, forcing him to dive again. It combined this with shooting poison stings through the water when it could see movement.

After several minutes, Richmond floated to the surface, face down, various projectiles sticking out of him. Satisfied, Roserade turned around to go and help Absol, only to come face to face with Richmond. "Boo," he said quietly. It shrieked and fell backwards, into the water, where Richmond's double team clone faded. "It's time I had my advantage." With this, he dived in after it, claws raised.

Absol slashed at Skuntank from on the table, making it hard for him to get a hit in with close-ranged attacks and it was able to dodge any long-ranged attacks that were sent it's way. Skuntank decided to take a different approach. He unleashed a series of sludge bombs around where he swam, leaving the water looking rather murky.

"Ha ha ha!" Absol laughed. "Do you really think I will dive into the water at all, let alone in your sludge?" He then realised that Skuntank had disappeared. He glanced around, ready to strike with a moment's warning. It's disaster senses bristled, then the entire table overturned, sending both itself and Lovrina flying. Unsurprisingly, it landed in the sludge, causing it to enter Absol's orifices, poisoning it.

Skuntank, who had just knocked the table over, laughed as he swam over to the Absol in the sludge. "I thought you said you would never swim in this." Absol just growled as Skuntank slammed into him.

Meanwhile, Lovrina desperately tried to right the table, only for her body to get caught on something. "Agggr!" she screamed. She frantically turned to Gorebyss. "Dispatch your whirlpools Gorebyss! One of them has caught me!" Gorbyss complied, releasing Growlithe from one such whirlpool, allowing him to attack Gorbyss with a bite. However, Lovrina was still stuck and slowly sinking. "Help!" she cried as she sunk below the surface.

Beautifly used gusts to attack Lombre, creating her own whirlpools. However, Lombre was able to swim through them, surfacing only to spit water pulses at the Beautifly. Annoyed that it's strategy was not working, it started using bug buzz, sending sound waves through the water to both attack Lombre and detect his whereabouts.

Lombre rose to the surface trying to avoid the waves. In doing so, he exposed himself to Beautifly who unleashed a giga drain. Lombre felt his energy draining, so tried to reverse the attack by using mega drain. Whilst it did nowhere near as much damage to Beautifly as it's attack did to him, it helped him heal some of his health and momentarily stunned Beautifly, giving him a chance to dive again.

Beautifly prepared to use it's bug buzz tactic again to scope out it's prey, when the water began to ripple. Suddenly, Lombre burst out from the pool and grabbed hold of Beautifly. It squealed and tried to shake him off, but his grip was too firm. Beautifly flew about rapidly until it realised there was no way to dislodge Lombre without hurting itself.

Lombre was slowly draining it's energy with a mega drain, so was surprised to lose grip as it slammed into the wall. Lombre took less damage, falling into the safety of the water, whilst Beautifly started to descend towards him-albeit much slower. Lombre prepared a final water pulse when Beautifly started to glow.

It's wounds started to heal as it absorbed sunlight with it's morning sun attack. Lombre launched more water pulses and the battle began anew.

Shelgon had trouble swimming. Her limbs were far too short for her to propel her heavy shell around, so she was stuck in one place. To compound matters, she was being attacked by a Reuniclus which launched psychic attacks at her-attacks that were not affected by her shell. She was forced to launch dragonbreaths about and tough-out the psychic attacks, ignoring the headaches. Reuniclus, to avoid the dragonbreaths, decided to land on top of Shelgon's shell and continue hurting her mind.

For a few moments, she was unable to do anything, but then, she was hit by a large object that caused Reuniclus to loose it's concentration and fall into the water. Shelgon looked up to realise that Tropius was swimming past. She managed (somehow) to climb onto Tropius where she yelled; "Be more bloody careful next time!"

"It's nice to see you too, Shelgon," Marcia replied, sitting on Tropius, feet touching the water. "This Porygon Z is causing a lot more trouble than we anticipated." As if on cue, a discharge hit Tropius, causing all three of them to feel tingly for a few moments.

Tropius returned fire with a solar beam, happy for the open roof and desert sun to prevent her from needing to charge it up. There was a splash from behind them and Shelgon turned around. "By the way, guys, that Porygon Z is not the only thing we need to worry about," she said worriedly. The Reuniclus unleashed a psychic attack on Tropius, leaving her open to Porygon Z's zap cannon. Tropius was instantly paralysed and found herself unable to do anything as the two pokemon prepared to attack the trio.

Growlithe flailed about in the water. Whilst he had learnt to swim, since the incident on Olivine beach, he found it difficult to go anywhere as Gorebyss manipulated the currents. The currents subsided and Growlithe attempted to swim towards Gorebyss, only to find himself swept up into another wave as Gorebyss used surf.

He took to shooting flames towards it, which boiled the water. Sadly, this did not effect the pokemon very much, since it was adapted for tropical seas in the first place. If the heat got too extreme, it responded with a blizzard, which cooled the water around Growlithe. He shivered and fired a large heat wave to warm himself up. Gorebyss disappeared under the water and the currents subsided.

Growlithe knew that a dive attack was incoming, so he attempted to swim as far away from where it had dived under as possible.

However, he need not have worried. Gorebyss, whilst under water, waiting for Growlithe to swim right over her, noticed something quite surprising. Lovrina was under water, being reeled in, by the leg, by the tail of a Steelix. The Steelix looked at her and growled. She began to back off, when her trainer thought an order over the psychic connection; _"Use a surf to deal with this monstrosity!"_

Gorebyss completely forgot about her target and summoned the largest wave she could muster. It rose up from under water, about half-way across the room. Growlithe gaped as he saw the wave surface where he had been floating moments ago.

Steelix, noticing the danger, released Lovrina and darted towards Gorebyss like a water snake. She snapped up Gorebyss with her jaws and bit down, knocking her out. However, the wave was still moving, smashing into Steelix, forcing her to drop her prey. Lovrina gasped as she surfaced, only to scream as she was swept up by the wave. The wave also collided with Tropius, Shelgon and Marcia, knocking the first two out. Both Lombre and Beautifly were forced against the wall of the room, before it could not take the pressure and it burst, unleashing the water down the maze-like corridors.

Marcia stood up and looked around the now drained room. She was soaked to the skin and most of her pokemon had been knocked out. She recalled them and found that Growlithe, Skuntank and Richmond-who had all been on the safe side of the wave-were the only ones still conscious. Lovrina did the same, albeit much more slowly. Her only remaining pokemon were Porygon Z and Reuniclus, who had levitated over the flood. The two pokemon glared at their targets, who glared back, raring for another fight.

"Porygon Z, use-" Lovrina began before a strange tune erupted from her pocket. "Excuse me one moment," she said politely. She turned around and pulled out her phone (she was glad she had made it water proof). "Yes, what is it?"

"Project zero is loaded up and we are ready to go," Ein said on the other end.

"Friggin' finally!" Lovrina hung up and turned back to see her two pokemon knocked out. "You bloody cheaters!" she yelled.

"We're not cheating," Marcia replied, "we're merely taking advantage of your distraction."

"Whatever," Lovrina said, "anyway, I'm going to bid you adieu and you're going to blow up."

"We're not letting you escape!" The four of them advanced on Lovrina.

"Ah!" Lovrina exclaimed, "but I have one more trick up my sleeve." She pulled out her seventh pokeball, the one with a purple top. "There's someone who's been dying to see you. Why don't you have an explosive reunion!" She chuckled as she pressed the button on the pokeball.

An Altaria burst out. It growled menacingly. "Airina!" Growlithe cried, but his heart sank when he closed his eyes and saw the purple aura.

A claw descended through the roof. Lovrina climbed onto it. "Have fun!" She giggled and turned to the Altaria. "Destroy them." The claw retreated upwards. The roof closed and a pair of metal doors shut where the wall had been destroyed.

The Altaria was the first to move, diving at Skuntank. It's aura flared up as it unleashed wave after wave of shadow rushes. Very soon, Skuntank fainted-saying; "Bugger!"-and Marcia returned him.

Growlithe ran towards the Altaria, ignoring the cries from the other two. He held out the relic fragment and yelled to the Altaria at the top of his lungs; "Airina! Remember who you are!" He closed his eyes and the green aura spread from the fragment. It engulfed the Altaria who squirmed as it closed in.

But this time, the shadow aura welled up and caused the green aura to fade. Growlithe opened his eyes and received a shadow wave to the face. Before the Altaria could attack again, Richmond struck it. However, this only succeeded in enraging the shadow pokemon. It's aura gained a visible red tinge and exploded outwards, striking Richmond.

"Growlithe!" Richmond cried as Growlithe attempted to purify the Altaria again. "There's nothing we can do!"

"We have to try!" came the reply as his purification failed again.

"You heard Lovrina!" Marcia shouted. "She's going to destroy the lab, with us inside it!"

"We have to find an exit!" Richmond yelled. He glanced around, diving out of the way as purple spikes shot out of the ground. Then he saw an exit. "This way!" He pointed towards a lift, that had gone unnoticed by them, at the back of the room.

They ran towards it, but the Altaria summoned another set of purple spikes (an attack called 'shadow rave'), that blocked their path. Growlithe instinctively reached for the relic fragment and managed to blast the spikes with green aura. The spikes receded and they sprinted for the lift.

Once the three of them were all in, Marcia repeatedly tapped the 'close doors' button, watching the Altaria come closer. The Altaria dived towards the lift, then the glass doors closed. It slammed into it, but was unfazed. It prepared to attack again, but the lift rose into the ceiling.

They bundled out of the lift to find themselves in a pitch black room. The lift descended back into the floor and they knew they were trapped. Marcia shouted; "Holy shi-" then there was a large explosion.

* * *

The Altaria hit the glass doors again, not caring that the lift had disappeared. Said lift came back down shortly and the Altaria prepared to dive again. Then, there was a deafening explosion. The shadow aura welled up around the Altaria, but it was no match for the tremendous blast. Airina had only a fraction of a second to remember who she was, then her body was vaporised in the blast


	17. Jirachi's speech

**AN: Sorry for more delays. I have no excuses.**

The sun pierced the late morning skies in Celedon city as Tabitha and Watcher wandered through the streets in the direction of a small, discreet café in the city centre. A slight breeze rushed through Tabitha's hair and Watcher's beard. Tabitha was nervous. What he was going to do could get him killed. Or it could give him an ally.

They soon arrived at the café, ordered their coffees and sat down. Tabitha glanced around, checking to make sure that no-one who would recognise them was around. The café was dreary, holding about twenty tables in a tight space. The floor, walls and, somehow, the ceiling were covered in coffee stains. A very dirty glass counter sat at the back of the room, holding rather mouldy cakes. Two workers stood behind it, taking orders whilst a third brought orders to tables. Surprisingly, several people were dotted around sipping at mugs of various liquids, none of which looked particularly appetising. Luckily, this place was low, even in team Rocket's standards.

Once he was sure they were safe, Tabitha began. "Watcher, there's something I need to tell you," he murmured.

"Oh Arceus! You're pregnant!" Watcher exclaimed, earning him several stares, including one from Tabitha.

"What?"

"Err, sorry, do continue."

Tabitha sighed. "I've done some bad things in my time," he paused, "but would it be wrong of me to kill someone, even in vengeance?"

Watcher laughed. "Real funny." Tabitha continued to stare at him. "Wait, you're being serious!?" Tabitha nodded. "Killing someone..." he began in a maddened whisper before remembering who he was and calming down. "...is absolutely fine. I mean, we're in team Rocket." He made a note to ensure he was around Tabitha at all times to stop him from doing such a thing.

"Even if it was our own boss?" Tabitha asked.

Now it was Watcher's turn to stare at Tabitha. He needed to arrest Giovanni and Tabitha may be good help. After a few moments, Watcher said, "I believe there is something I must tell you."

"Huh?"

Watcher pulled his beard down, revealing it to be fake. "Do you know who I really am?" He questioned, smoothing his hair down, into it's normal style.

"Nope," Tabitha answered, bluntly.

"What?! You don't know me? I'm Looker."

Tabitha had a blank expression on his face. "Who?"

"Looker, of the international police!" He pulled out his ID for Tabitha to see.

Tabitha stared at the ID. "International police, eh," he said shakily.

"Do not be alarmed, Tabitha," Looker said, reassuringly, "I'm not going to arrest you. I need your help to take down team Rocket."

"Take down team Rocket? All I want to do is get vengeance on him for killing my sister." Looker raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'll explain." Tabitha then recounted the tale of his encounter with Mewtwo.

"So, this super weapon that Giovanni created is the same one that we are going to hunt down tomorrow," Looker stated.

"Yes, and if we don't do something, Giovanni will obtain it."

"Ah!" Looker exclaimed. "But we have an advantage. He has entrusted you with the job of catching Mewtwo. We can use this to our advantage." So, Tabitha and Looker spent the day plotting out what they would do.

* * *

Giovanni relaxed in his chair, flicking through his e-mails. Customers sending apologies and excuses in regards to why they had not made their payments. He ignored the excuses and noted the names and locations of these people on a piece of paper, under the heading; 'Team Rocket Hit List'.

He had almost finished when a new e-mail popped up in his inbox. Opening it, he was surprised to find that it was from his old colleague, professor Ein. The contents of the e-mail read:

_Greetings, Giovanni. I hope you are well. Still messing with creating the ultimate pokemon I presume? If so, I come with great news. I believe I have discovered how to at my current place of work; team Cipher. My superiors have informed me that we need a new source of money, since our current one has been drained dry and would be happy for you to join (assuming you are not still messing around with that silly team Rocket). You will be given a place as one of the heads of Cipher and your own selection of our 'special' shadow pokemon. If you do join, I can tell you more about this ultimate pokemon. Please respond to this e-mail. Yours sincerely, Ein._

Giovanni chuckled at the e-mail. In his opinion, Ein must have sunken quite low to join team Cipher. He knew they were a criminal syndicate in Orre. Orre! The region that nobody cared about outside of it. He also did not believe that Cipher had discovered the ultimate pokemon. For one thing, he was hunting it himself and the other thing, Cipher were useless.

Unsurprisingly, he deleted the e-mail and decided to think about what would happen tomorrow. Would Tabitha be up to the job? Did it really matter in the end? Giovanni had his own master ball, just in case.

* * *

Team Cipher's boardroom was rather empty. Many of the high ranking peons were missing and the only admins were Dakim and Gorigan. Cipher's advisers sat in their usual seats, apparently content to let Evice and Selena play out their roles in Realgam. They knew that, no matter what happened there, Cipher would be fine.

A screen on the wall switched on, revealing another meeting room. Gathered around the surprisingly similar looking room were; Evice and Selena, sat at their respective table ends, Ein and Lovrina, both wearily holding mugs of coffee, Odan, fingering his swords, Merton, looking miserable, and various peons.

"Attention, my colleagues," Evice began, "today is a momentous day, for we have finally gotten rid of the fools who thought it wise to mess with team Cipher at mount Battle. Furthermore, thanks to an attack by the Resistance on the shadow lab, we now know the exact location of their headquarters."

Nearly everyone gasped. "Yes, that's right," Evice continued, "they were clever enough to utilise the tunnel system under Orre which, we just so happen to have maps of and we know that it centralises in the Under."

"DO YOU WANT US TO ATTACK?" Dakim shouted (as always).

"Indeed we do, Dakim," he replied. "Since you can't fly there and the under subway is ruined, I recommend you and Gorigan organise as many peons as possible and march there briskly. If you set out now, you'll get there by early tomorrow morning, before they can set out to stop us at Realgam."

"YES SIR!"

"Oh, and before you go," Evice said before the group could leave, "when you find the mastermind behind the Resistance, bring them back alive!" With that, the room emptied and the screen turned blank.

"All of you go and get some rest," Selena ordered. "Tomorrow, our plan will go ahead, but for tonight, I don't think Ein and Lovrina are in a fit state to set up the machine." With that, everyone filed out of the room, happy to get some rest.

Only Selena stayed behind. Tomorrow, she was going to give a maniac godly powers. But it did not matter to her. All that mattered was that she survived. That was all she cared about. Her own survival. Once she had cared for another, but she was dead. She rose from her seat and walked out of the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the other boardroom, the two advisers sat alone. The doors to the room shut and locked by themselves to ensure complete privacy. They both stood up and walked over to each other, meeting half-way. "Tomorrow is when the beginning happens," one said in a voice, like an Arbok's hiss.

"Indeed," the other replied and a lower, but still quiet voice. "I assume Ein has sorted everything out?"

"Yes, I can assure you he has. I doubt that Giovanni will bother joining considering his cynical views of Cipher and his ties to team Rocket."

"Of course. To expect such a thing would be fool-hardy. Instead, we should focus on finding a new source of income."

"I think I know of such a source. Have you paid attention to the news in Unova?"

"If you're suggesting such a person, you may have a good idea."

"That is exactly who I'm suggesting."

"Then we should set out immediately." No more words were exchanged. The two of them seemingly faded into the floor. As soon as they were gone, the doors unlocked by themselves again.

* * *

Gonzap chuckled to himself. A group of about thirty grunts (the only survivors of the previous conflict) marched behind him, across the desert, aware of the fact that they may all die tomorrow. Gonzap, however, was in the highest spirits. On his back was a bag full of electrical equipment, but more importantly, the bomb from Mount Battle. If he could plant it at Realgam tower, he could ruin Cipher's current plan (something to do with his old purple ball).

It had not taken them long to figure out that Cipher would be at Realgam. Gonzap worked on the premise that, since the championships were over, Orre's largest landmark would make a good place to stage their taking over of the world. No-one else was quite so confident, but, if the worst came to the worst, he would merely be destroying a large, fancy building (constructed by Cipher themselves) and maybe helping Phenac Colosseum reopening.

Whilst the march continued, Skarmory continued to fret about the whole impossibility of making a bomb out of a meteorite and some lava. Gonzap ignored him.

* * *

There was a stir in the Under, as the Shade arrived through one of the tunnels. She attempted to listen into various conversations, but could discern little, even when she was right next someone. Most of the chatter was frantic and no-one really knew what was going on.

After getting to the colosseum the Shade overheard someone say something about a speech being made as soon as Growlithe had returned safely. Despite her plan to stay hidden until Growlithe and Richmond returned, she knew she had to speak to Jirachi right away. She slunk into the colosseum, unnoticed by the guards at the door.

Once she was inside, she made her way swiftly towards Jirachi's chamber. The only visible part of her was her red zig-zag stripe. Despite this, no-one would notice her. She had a strange gift allowing her to only be noticed by those that she wanted to notice her. This may have seemed strange, but then again, a naturally black Kecleon was unique to begin with.

As she slipped under the door to Jirachi's chambers, she allowed her spy to see her. The Banette took the hint and left, passing through the wall. Jirachi herself was sat in her chair, asleep. The Shade climbed into the chair, behind Jirachi, took her knife and held it to the other's throat. "And you're dead!" she yelled in her ear.

Jirachi woke up with a start. "Good Arceus, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" she cried, pushing the knife away. She looked about the room. "I assume Growlithe is here."

"Oh no," the Shade said, sheathing her knife, "first, you're going to tell me what's going on and why everyone is in an uproar about some speech."

"Well, if Growlithe is here, I can just make the speech and you'll find out. So tell me then: where is Growlithe?"

The Shade sighed. "I sent him and Richmond to the lab."

"WHAT?!" Jirachi yelled, glaring at her.

"I said, I sent them to the lab."

"Yes, I heard that, but why?"

"I needed a guardian so that Airina could be purified. I sent my best fighter with him so-"

"AIRINA!" Jirachi looked furious. "How many times have I said it? Forget Airina!"

"Whether you like it or not, Jirachi, you need Airina."

The Shade said no more. Jirachi hit her with such force that she flew across the room. She deftly landed on her feet, despite being caught by surprise. She stared at Jirachi for a few moments. "There is more to you than you'd care to admit." She then turned and disappeared, leaving Jirachi to stare at her hands in disbelief.

At that moment, Donovan flew in. "Are you ready for the speech? Growlithe should be back soon."

"He isn't coming back," Jirachi mumbled miserably, "we're going to do the speech now. Ensure everyone is gathered in front of the colosseum."

"Of course, master," Donovan replied, then flew back out of the room.

* * *

Cobalion walked down a tunnel flooded with people and pokemon. They all cheered at him and parted for him as he passed. Beyond the crowd, Terrakion and Virizion stood giving him words of encouragement. His old apprentice, Keldeo also stood with them. He was much more silent, but still gave him a smile. Beyond them, a huge blue stag with rainbow-coloured antlers watched Cobalion. Cobalion bowed, not quite knowing how to react. The stag bowed it's head at him.

The happiness was short-lived, though. A large black and red avian dived down from the roof of the tunnel and preyed upon the crowd. The stag reacted and charged towards the chaos, but was too late. The crowd were dead. Cobalion watched in horror as the bird began to feast upon the flesh. The stag charged at it, but Cobalion saw no more of this. A rope wound itself around him and he turned to find it connected to Odan, who cackled like a madman. Then, the floor fell away and Cobalion could feel himself plunging into non-existence. Finally, he woke.

He was still in the same place as before. Awake, but trapped in a nightmare. Cobalion was in a large cage constructed of re-enforced glass. A small funnel at the top of the cage acted as the only opening. Beyond the glass was a room decorated to look quite Victorian (not that anyone in this world knew what that meant). A comfortable looking sofa and a small table with photo-frames on it, faced the cage. Above them, Cobalion's horns were mounted to the wall.

This made him snarl. He charged at the glass, head forward and collided with it. He fell backwards, head pounding. After recovering, he examined the glass, only to find that it still had no scratches in it. He hurled himself to the floor and sulked for a little while.

A door on one side of the room opened and an elderly woman wandered in. Cobalion was surprised to see that she did not wear anything that indicated she had any alliance with Cipher. She held an open can of poke-food and poured in into the funnel. It rained down on Cobalion who tried to find a sheltered spot. He sniffed the food. Once again, it was meat. He had been a vegetarian all of his life, but had been forced to break his vow over the last day, just to save himself.

"'Tis a crying shame that you are all locked up like this," the woman said, "but you should really have never got in Odan's way. He does have a habit of getting carried away in a sword fight. He was very excited when he brought you here. Happiest I've seen him since the birth of his Granddaughter."

"I'm sorry," Cobalion replied, telepathically, "but who are you?"

The woman looked stunned for a second. "Well, I didn't expect you to talk back. My name is Kerrian. I'm the wife of Odan."

Now it was Cobalion's turn to look stunned. "Wait, you're telling me that Odan locked me up in this prison with his wife to feed me?"

"Prison? This is no prison. This is our home. You're only being kept in this cage until Odan finds a way to calm you down and train you. He really wanted to add you to his team."

"If we are just in a house, then you could free me."

Kerrian shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, this cage has a pass-code to unlock it." She pointed at a key-pad on the cage. "Anyway, you're getting fed, a nice home and a good trainer to boot."

"Are we talking about the same guy here? Has there been some sort of mix up?"

"I know, Odan can be fierce in battle, but he's a sweet guy really. That's why I fell for him back when he was a sailor, in Gateon port."

"Do you even know that he is a member of Cipher and the legendary Captain Slash?"

"Now you're just making up stories. Captain Slash was a pirate hundreds of years ago. My husband is only sixty-seven. And as for team Cipher, the only person who could have ever convinced him to do anything he didn't want to was our daughter." She gazed wistfully at a photo of a young, brown-haired girl with freckles. "And we haven't seen her for years."

With that, she left, closing the door behind her and leaving Cobalion with some food for thought. Why was he not at Cipher's base? How could he get out? Just what connection did Odan have with Captain Slash and team Cipher? These questions and more plagued his mind as he disdainfully tucked into his food.

* * *

Jirachi was carried out on Donovan's back to the front entrance of the Under colosseum. A large crowd had gathered and were chatting amongst themselves with anticipation. Jirachi could see all of her council standing at the front of the crowd, gazing at her, except for the Shade, whom she knew would be hidden somewhere-probably invisible. Even Storm was there, next to Turbine, assisted by two Xatu.

Donovan made a loud screeching noise that got the entire crowd's attention (and caused some of the pokemon closer to cringe or cover their ears). Donovan perched himself on the roof of the colosseum entrance and Jirachi began.

"Today, my friends, has been a day of sadness and joy, good and bad. Many of you have been recovering from the loss of friends and loved ones yesterday. However, today, the fight against Cipher has taken a new turn."

"I shall start with the good news. We shall enter the final battle with team Cipher tomorrow. We have found out that team Cipher plan on using Realgam tower as a place to stage their plans. Tomorrow, they will grant one of their own Arceus's power unless we stop them. Every able-bodied pokemon, who has not got a responsibility here, shall join the battle, for we must stop Cipher at all costs!" Everyone cheered at this.

"However, there is terrible news, too. Today, the reviver of Arceus, Growlithe, was killed." Everyone gasped. Even the Shade-who managed to do it silently, standing at the back of the crowd. Although, she knew that Jirachi was up to something.

"He was killed," Jirachi repeated, "a stab wound to the heart, along with Airina, whom we all loved." The Shade became very concerned. If the crowd stomached these lies, she would be the prime suspect. "That is what the report told me, when I sent a group of scouts to help with the effort to locate them."

"This was not the work of Cipher, however," the Shade could see where this was going, "the one who did this stands among us. We have a traitor in our ranks. One who works for Mew, who is scared of the possibility of the revival of Arceus."

"You might be thinking to yourself, 'who is the traitor? It is not me'. Well, there is one in here who is capable of travelling the Orre desert quickly, carries a knife and furthermore, I sent her out to find Growlithe in the first place," Jirachi turned to face the Shade head on, "isn't that right, Shade?"

The whole crowd turned and stared at her. The Shade tried to turn herself invisible, but could not. A Watchog behind her used it's tail to illuminate her, keeping her visible. She tried to run, but when she did, a Breloom ran in front of her, turned around and gave her a sky uppercut to the jaw. The Shade was sent back towards the crowd and the last thing she remembered was a large number of angry pokemon surrounding her and Jirachi's grinning face, above them all.


	18. A return to darkness

**AN: Insert lateness excuse here**

* * *

There was a huge explosion which shook the desert. Wes turned to the source and noticed a cloud of dust rising over some sand dunes. "That has to be where the shadow lab is," he said to Rui, who was currently trying to calm down her Zebstrika.

"What do you think caused the explosion?" she asked.

"Cipher trying to hide some important data, I expect."

Michael and his Dragonite landed next to them. "I scouted around. There's not much left of the shadow lab, assuming that was what just exploded."

"It must be," Wes replied, "I mean, who else, in Orre, has enough money and bad intentions to use a bomb of that size."

"I think most people in Orre have the bad intentions," Michael muttered, "let's just be glad no one else has the money."

"Well then, let's get going already," Rui said impatiently. They set off through the desert, towards the dust cloud, and soon arrived at the remnants of the shadow lab.

"You know, I kinda miss the funky music they played here," Wes said, staring wistfully into the depths of the remaining crater.

"I really don't miss anything about this place," Michael said, shivering. "Shadow pokemon, annoying sextuplets and a psychotic scientist running it all."

"Hey, do you hear something?" Rui asked, staring at a large white box on the edge of the other side of the crater. She closed her eyes.

"I don't hear a thing, Rui," Wes replied, looking concerned, "I hope you aren't hearing voices in your head."

Her eyes opened suddenly. "I see three auras! They are trapped in that box!"

Wes glanced at where she was pointing. He could see a broken lift hanging from underneath it. The structure looked as though it could fall into the crater at any moment, yet managed to stay firm. "I think we should be careful about this."

Michael and Dragonite made their way to the other side of the crater. Wes and Rui followed. Rui sent out Haxorus and Wes considered sending out Hydreigon, but decided against it. Dragonite carefully stepped onto the area next to the box with Michael. "It's stable," he said.

Rui and Haxorus followed. Wes stayed at the edge, claiming he could not help at all. Haxorus and Dragonite gave the box their strongest punches. They need not have done, since the wall collapsed fairly easily due to being weakened by the explosion.

Marcia, Growlithe and Richmond stared at the open wall, all looking worse for wear. The three of them slowly clambered out. Richmond was first. He looked at the newcomers cautiously. However, his fears were put to rest when Marcia got out. "Hey Michael, it's been a while since you helped us get that film of Cipher out in Phenac."

"Indeed," he replied, still slightly shocked at the contents of the box. "I see you're taking a more active role in taking down Cipher."

"What do you mean more active? I took a fairly active role in reporting news in dangerous areas." Michael rolled his eyes. Marcia turned to the other two newcomers. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

"If you've lived in Orre for the past five or six years, probably," Wes replied.

"He's Wes and I'm Rui," Rui said, "we defeated Cipher six years ago."

"Oh yeah," Marcia exclaimed, "I know you. I'm Marcia."

"Daughter of Duking? You've grown up since we last saw you," Rui said enthusiastically.

The conversation (and Richmond staring at everyone) would have continued had it not been for Growlithe, looking quite solemn, climbing out of the box. "Hey Growlithe," Rui greeted, "are you okay? Where's Airina?"

Growlithe stared at her miserably. "I suppose I should tell you what happened." Growlithe then relayed the tale of what happened to Wes, Rui and Michael.

* * *

The Shade sat silently. She was locked up in a cage with thinly spaced bars. Some of Crystal's psychics had cast spells on it to ensure she could not escape by slipping into the shadows. She had already found out about that through experience.

Three watched her with looks of disgust. Two were Jirachi and Donovan (the former of which was still sat on the latter) and the third was the Breloom who had stopped the Shade. "So, my good friend, Fungin," Jirachi began, turning to her, "I must thank you for your help. If our prisoner here had slipped off, she could have informed Mew about all of our plans."

"You are most welcome, esteemed Jirachi," Fungin replied, "but she could still have reported anything she knew to Mew before we caught her. That gives her a good advantage if she were to attack us."

"Indeed, but we have much more pressing issues right now, what with Cipher. We shall hold a trial shortly to decide her fate."

"In my home village, traitors were never given a trial. They were executed as soon as they were caught."

"A good point, but I must hold a trial, since the Resistance is a democracy of sorts."

Fungin looked back at the Shade. "I wasn't necessarily saying that it was a good thing."

Jirachi paused, pondering for a moment. Then she said "You showed that you can go unnoticed even by the Shade, Fungin. How would you like to become the new leader of the Resistance's spies?"

"I would like that," Fungin said, still staring at the prisoner, "thank you. I promise I'll do a good job."

"Okay then, it's settled. Now, shall we get on with this trial?" Fungin walked out.

Donovan put Jirachi down. "I'll just go and get some pokemon to carry the cage out," he said, flying off.

"What will you do when Growlithe returns?" the Shade asked. "I doubt you could convince them I killed Growlithe if he's still alive."

"He is dead, Shade. You killed him."

"You and I both know that that is not true."

"You may not have stabbed him, but you sent him to his death, all the same."

"I can assure you, he will come back. And when he does, you'll have a crowd to deal with."

"The crowd already see you as the villain, whether Growlithe is alive or not."

A wry smile formed on the Shade's face. "You may have the crowd on your side, but trust me when I say this. The high council hold authority over their respective pokemon and if you think they all trust you, you'd be wrong."

"I was wrong, Shade, but now I've caught you. As for the council, they will trust me. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

The sun had fully set by the time Growlithe, Richmond, Marcia, Wes, Rui and Michael arrived in Pyrite. After Growlithe had recounted the events past, the humans of the group had decided that they would be more help if they went with Growlithe and Richmond to the Under. Richmond had been weary about the idea, since he knew most members of the Resistance took distaste to humans, but even he saw the sense in them coming along, since they were allies and would probably be swarmed with peons if anyone saw them.

The reason they were in Pyrite was because, Growlithe knew little about the Under tunnel system and Richmond usually took tunnels that fit his size, and not human size. Marcia, however, knew that there was an old lift in the basement of the ONBS building that would take them down to the Under. Or they at least hoped so.

As they passed through the gates (that was what they were called, but any trace of gate had been removed long ago), they noticed that the streets were strangely quiet-Marcia had made an effort to never hang around in Pyrite after dark, so she did not know what it was normally like. However, they had no idea that they were being watched by a very formidable foe.

Other than a few thugs who emerged from alleys-easily dispatched by Wes, Rui and Michael's pokemon-the group had made their way through Pyrite with relative ease. They soon reached the 'nicer' part of the town. The street they were on had rows of apartment blocks on one side and shops on the other. The buildings were constructed out of a white brick rather than the typical rusty metal in other parts. At the far end of the street, ONBS stood with it's lights all switched off for the night. Beyond the building was the famous Pyrite rift and the colosseum.

They had only taken a few steps when a couple of peons in white suits appeared. "Halt!" they called as they ran towards them. "Oh my, what do we have here then?" one said. "It seems Merton wasn't lying after all."

"Oh, indeed," the other replied, "but how did they survive the bomb?"

"More to the point, what are the people at the top of Cipher's enemy list doing here?"

Naturally, this conversation did not last long. There were two gunshots. Wes and, surprisingly Michael held pistols that they had produced from hidden parts of their clothing. Wes glanced at Michael, then exclaimed, "How the hell are you allowed to have one of them?"

"Professor Krane told me only to use it in an emergency," Michael replied casually, "and anyway, this is Orre. There aren't exactly any gun laws." They ran over to the collapsed peons and examined them. "Hmm, both dead."

"At least you're not a bad shot," Wes said looking at the perfect hole in the forehead. "Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you."

"We may have to do more fighting before the night is over," Rui said, pulling out her own pistol. Marcia pulled out the knife she had gotten off a peon at Mount Battle. Growlithe and Richmond looked around cautiously.

They made their way past the next building, then a Hippowdon charged out from the side of the building with a peon riding it. The group dived out of the way as it charged past. Once it had past them all, it turned and charged again. "I can't get a clear shot at the rider!" Wes shouted after off-loading a round of bullets from his pistol.

"We'll have to do this the old fashioned way!" Rui said, sending out Quagsire. Quagsire stood in the path of the Hippowdon and put out it's hands. The Hippowdon slowed to a stop, Quagsire standing firm. "Don't just stand there, send out your pokemon!"

The group obeyed Rui. Wes sent out Espeon and Umbreon, the former of which unleashed psychic attacks whilst the latter tried to catch Hippowdon by surprise with his attacks. Michael sent out Walrein who stood back and blasted the Hippowdon with water and ice attacks. Marcia sent out Lombre and Tropius who utilised their respective elements. Richmond charged forward to join Umbreon in his attacks, but Growlithe felt somewhat useless due to his type disadvantage.

"What do you think you're doing!" the peon exclaimed. "You're not supposed to fight back. He pulled out a knife and hurled it at Quagsire. The knife however stopped inches from it's head. Espeon had intercepted it with his psychic powers. He tried to send it back at the peon, but he ducked and the knife sailed over his head.

Quagsire was holding firm until a green beam of light slammed into him. He lost his grip and the Hippowdon lurched forward, sending the peon flying into the road. Rui only had milliseconds to return Quagsire before he was trampled. The pokemon that had fired the solar beam, a Vileplume, easily managed to dodge out of the way of the Hippowdon. It's trainer-whom was still lying in the road-however, was unable to avoid it.

Growlithe leapt into action, charging at the Vileplume, baring a fire fang. Vileplume managed to easily leap out of the way and fire acid at Growlithe. Growlithe unleashed a heat wave that melted the acid and lit Vileplume on fire. It ran around a bit, screeching for help before it's trainer returned it. Before he could celebrate, however, a Fearow shot down at him with a drill peck. Growlithe jumped out of the way and returned fire.

The Hippowdon continued to rage around the street without it's trainer to guide it, causing all sorts of damage. The problem with the Hippowdon was that the pokemon fighting it were being dragged into fights with other pokemon. A Drifloon floated down and picked up Espeon, causing the psychic to lose it's grip on Hippowdon's mind. Tropius was now forced to take on a Hairyama that came charging down the street. Lombre deftly jumped out of the way of a Liepard's claws and returned a water pulse. Leafeon and Glaceon (whom Rui had sent out to replace Quagsire) were now up against a Claydol whose psychic attacks were causing the battle to become much more difficult.

"Screw this!" Wes yelled over the fighting, "I'm sending out Hydreigon!" He opened up the pokeball and the dark dragon roared.

An old man popped his head out of the window of an apartment. "Will you kids keep it down! I'm trying to get some shut eye!" Hydreigon responded to this by firing a dragon pulse at him, which successfully destroyed half the flat. Luckily, the old man had dived out of the way just in time.

"Calm down, Hydreigon!" Wes commanded. "Go deal with that Hippowdon!" Hydreigon, however, had just noticed Umbreon and began to chase after him. Umbreon saw this and groaned. Before he could get out of the way, a hyper beam collided with him.

Hydreigon turned to see a Slaking charging up another hyper beam. She turned away from Umbreon and charged at the large monkey screaming something along the lines of; "Only I can do that!" (to all those who could understand).

Espeon gazed down at the fighting, far below him now. "Hey, buddy," he said, attempting to hit the Drifloon with another psychic attack, "I think you're going a little bit too high."

The Drifloon ignored him and continued flying upwards. So Espeon shouted this time; "Oi! Put me down this instant you stupid oaf!"

This did make the Drifloon react. "Hey! It's not my fault that I can't control wind currents!"

"You're a bloody flying type! All the others can do it!"

"If you haven't realised, I'm a balloon! Balloons can't control the wind!"

"That doesn't matter! All flying types can control wind currents! It's part of their element!"

"Right then. Good to see you put your last conversation to good use. Good bye." The Drifloon opened it's legs up with the intention of letting Espeon drop to his death.

However, Espeon saw the thought and reacted by biting it's leg. "You're not getting rid of me that easily!"

The Drifloon tried to fly up again, but found itself unable to due to Espeon's weight being unbalanced. "You fool! Now you've doomed us both!"

The two of them started to descend slowly. "What are you talking about?" Espeon asked. "We're falling really slowly."

"That's not the principle," Drifloon started, "never mind, I'll just get rid of you myself." It charged up a shadow ball from (of all places) it's 'bottom'. Espeon, getting used to the position he was in, used the leg to swing out of the shadow ball's aim. Drifloon growled and fired another one. Espeon dodged this one too. Drifloon fired a volley of shadow balls. This time, Espeon had to put up a light screen to deflect the oncoming balls of energy.

After this unleash of energy, Espeon realised he was loosing grip on the leg, due to fatigue. He looked down and noticed a roof to the right of them. He fired a blast of psychic energy at the Drifloon, which stunned and sent it flying straight into the roof, slamming against the surface.

Espeon on the other hand managed to levitate himself telekinetically for a second to break the fall. Once he had landed, he looked at Drifloon. It was now deflated and unconscious in the middle of the roof. Espeon found some stairs and ran down them, into the main building.

On his way to the street, he met an old man shouting in a corridor. "I want some compensation!" he yelled at Espeon as he noticed him.

Espeon, having no idea what he was on about, ran between his legs and towards the next flight of stairs. "Come back here you rascal!" the old man shouted, running after Espeon. "Take this!" He took off his slipper and threw it at Espeon.

The slipper landed perfectly so it hung off of Espeon's tail. Espeon was running too fast to notice. "Hey! Come back with my slipper!"

Growlithe dodged each attack that the Fearow sent his way. However, the bird was fast, albeit inaccurate. Growlithe was unable to fight back, having to spend all of his time dodging the swooping Fearow.

Realising it's strategy wasn't working, Fearow landed right next to Growlithe, squawked, then stabbed it's beak downwards. Growlithe noticed no hint of subtlety in this act and easily had enough time to get out of the way. Fearow, however, had put so much force into it's drill peck that it's beak was stuck in the ground.

As it struggled to remove it, Growlithe took the opportunity to attack it with a take down. Eventually, the Fearow managed to remove it's beak and flew up into the air, roaring at Growlithe. It circled again and swooped low, this time choosing not to land and get stuck in the ground again. Growlithe ran about, carefully choosing his steps and keeping low to see if he could get the Fearow to hit the ground.

He only just managed to jump out of the way as the Hippowdon came charging past followed by Umbreon and Walrein (the latter of which turned the ground to ice in front of itself so it could slide). However, Growlithe ended up colliding with the Fearow. Fearow roared as Growlithe bumped into it's face, then grabbed hold of it's head feathers. It tried to shake him off, but he gripped tight.

The two of them were so engaged in combat that neither of them noticed the building that loomed ahead. Luckily, Growlithe managed to knock Fearow in such a way that it flew into a hole in the building.

Tropius's solar beams were doing little to the Hairyama due to the lack of sunlight. She flew up to avoid on of it's blows, waited until it was right below, then allowed herself to plummet. She had been expecting an impact, but instead, Hairyama grabbed her body and was able to hold her above it's head. It turned to a nearby building and tossed her at it. Her weight was heavy enough to smash a window and the impact combined with the shards of glass severely harmed her.

The Hairyama charged towards her once more and she let off one more solar beam. This one hit the pavement beneath Hairyama's feet, causing it to trip over. Sadly, Hairyama was not able to recover before Hippowdon charged straight into it, sending it several feet through the air. The Hippowdon came to a halt to watch the flying sumo wrestler. Umbreon managed to stop inches from it. As he was about to attack, Walrein found itself unable to stop and collided with him.

"Argh! What do you think you're doing?!" Umbreon yelled as he got back onto his feet. "You clumsy oaf!"

"Hey! Have you ever tried stopping on ice," Walrein replied angrily, "it's not easy."

"You're an ice type! You should be better than that!"

"Well sorry mister 'I'm the perfect dark type'!"

"Apology accepted and thanks for the compliment," Umbreon said, oblivious to the sarcasm.

"Err, right," Walrein said dumbfounded. Then it looked around. "Where did that Hippowdon go?" As if on cue, Hippowdon charged straight into them.

"Right...there," Umbreon groaned before passing out.

Hydreigon looked up from the Slaking it had utterly ravaged. It roared louder than everything else there, triggering alarms and waking even the heaviest of sleepers. "Time to die, Hippowdon," she hissed.

The Liepard unleashed wave after wave of fury swipes at Lombre, making it difficult for him to get a direct hit in. To make matters worse, it moved fast enough that he could not get far enough away from it to use a ranged attack.

Lombre soon found himself backed up against a wall. The claws kept getting nearer, so he dodged out of the way at the last second. The Liepard yelped as it's claws raked the solid brick. It looked at it's claw and cried out. "I broke a nail!" It turned towards Lombre. "This is you're fault you stupid lily pad thing!"

"I'm so sorry, madam," Lombre said with mock sympathy.

"Madam! I'm not a lady! I'm a man!" The cat roared, bearing it's claws (minus the one which broke).

"Oh sorry, MADAM," Lombre mocked, "but you're going to face something much worse than a broken nail." He fired a water pulse.

The Liepard screeched again when it collided with him. "My fur! You messed it up!"

"Your fur is just the beginning," Lombre said as green light enveloped him and trailed out towards Liepard.

Hydreigon slammed into Hippowdon with a dragon rush. Whilst it did not react to it immediately, it slowed to a stop and turned to glare at the dark dragon. It snarled, then unleashed an earthquake which snaked towards Hydreigon. She simply looked at the crevice as she floated above it. "You're an idiot."

Meanwhile, Richmond (who had been hiding in Hippowdon's shadow) emerged and climbed onto it. He climbed towards the head, but was forced to stop as it was buffeted by a wave of water that washed down the streets, cleaning them somewhat.

Richmond glared at Hydreigon. "What do you think you're doing! You could've hit me with that!"

"Get used to it," Hydreigon retorted, "Another one coming up."

Dropping off of the agitated Hippowdon and into ankle deep water (the Pyrite drainage system was terrible, due to there never being any rain), he looked again to notice another wave coming down the street. He looked around and found a plank of wood floating in the water. "I wonder why I've never tried surfing before."

He climbed onto the plank which stayed surprisingly stable. Crouching, he got the wood moving, using his arms as paddles. "Let's see if I can ride that wave." He grinned as the wave got closer. Then it washed over him, knocking him off of the wood within moments. As he resurfaced, he groaned. "That's why I've never tried surfing before."

Angry now, the Hippowdon unleashed a huge sandstorm, battering everyone around, except Richmond who was semi-conscious in the water. Hydreigon tried to hit it with dragon pulses, but the sand got in her eyes making her aim terrible. "Damn! It's just like when I used to have hair in my eyes!"

Growlithe looked at his surroundings at last. He was in an apartment with Fearow lying outstretched in front of him. Without it's aerial advantage, it had not taking much to defeat it. He looked down at the carnage far below, realising just how high he was.

As he turned to leave, the door burst open and an old man in a dressing gown and only one slipper burst in. He screamed at Growlithe. "Get out of my house yer hooligan!" He took off his other slipper and threw it. The slipper arced over Growlithe and disappeared through the hole in the wall. Growlithe then charged out of the door leaving the old man to his shouting.

Leafeon and Glaceon were having a ball, or rather, playing with Claydol as if it were a ball. They batted it to each other whilst it attempted to fire psybeams at them. Unfortunately for it, it's accuracy was hindered by the fact that it was hurtling through the air. The two were so engrossed by their game, they barely noticed Claydol slowly turning red.

It was not until Espeon ran out of the apartment block and knocked Leafeon over that anyone noticed. "Get off me Espeon! Not now!" Leafeon yelled.

Espeon got off sheepishly. "Heh heh, Sorry."

"Aww, you ruined our game," Glaceon said, disappointed. "You made Leafeon drop Claydol." She turned to the Claydol. "Hmm, is something wrong with it?"

"Glaceon you idiot!" Leafeon screamed. It's going to explode! Run away!"

Espeon levitated it into the air and flung it away. Claydol flew until it collided with Hippowdon. The hippo only had time to turn to see what had hit it before it was caught up in the explosion. Espeon chuckled and shook himself. A slipper fell off of his tail. "I thought something was wrong with my tail."

Growlithe emerged from the apartment building a few minutes later and saw what was left. The street was flooded. All of the allies who had fainted had been recalled. Richmond held onto a plank of wood, looking dazed. Espeon, Leafeon and Glaceon were chuckling at each other's jokes. Hydreigon guarded the unconscious Hippowdon in case it awoke unexpectedly. Lombre was stood over a crying Liepard. Wes was fiddling with his snag machine (which was hidden underneath his trench coat's left arm).

"Wes, what have I told you. No snagging unless it's a shadow pokemon," Rui warned him.

Wes sighed and let his left arm fall to his side. "Fine."

Marcia and Michael looked at him as he came out. "There you are, Growlithe," Marcia said. "We were worried for a moment."

"We should get moving, now we are all accounted for," Michael said with concern in his voice. "We've probably alerted all of Pyrite to our struggle which is bad enough, but we also have Cipher to worry about."

All of the pokemon, bar Richmond and Growlithe, were returned. Before they got moving, the old man emerged from the apartment block. He instantly saw his slippers bobbing in the water. "My slippers!" he exclaimed before diving in to retrieve them.

They soon reached the ONBS building and Marcia let them in. They were able to quickly make their way through the darkened hallways with Marcia's knowledge of the place and Growlithe's light. They eventually found themselves in the basement. Inside there was a rather rusty lift. "I remember this," Wes exclaimed, "and the guard who couldn't guard it from a horde of Magikarp."

They all managed fit easily on the large open platform and Wes put a key in a slot (yes, he had been carrying it around for six years). The lift buzzed to life and began it's decent to a greater danger than any of the group realised...

* * *

The trial went on for the best part of two hours. The entire thing was staged in front of the colosseum. The Shade's cage had been brought out and sat right in front of the entrance. Pokemon came up and made their claims for or against the Shade (mostly against, since most were afraid of speaking up for a traitor). The council sat to one side, making a note of the arguments. At the end of the trial, they would vote as to whether the Shade was innocent or guilty.

"We have had many statements today, but now it comes down to the council's decision," Jirachi said, turning to the council. All were there except Terrakion and Virizion who were meeting Keldeo at the edge of Orre. "Please tick the guilty or not guilty boxes beside your name on the piece of paper I will hand round." She handed a piece of paper and a pen to Wintarn.

The piece of paper made it's way round (although took longer because Pythos had problems holding the pen). Turbine would not vote, since Storm was technically still in charge of the air-force. Jirachi picked up the paper and glanced at the names who voted for and against her and was surprised by a couple of council members.

At long length, she announced, "The voting is tied. Therefore, the council shall argue for and against her freedom respectively, and I will make the final decision." At this point, the Shade knew she would be found guilty by Jirachi, no matter what. "First, we shall start with those who believe she is guilty. Wintarn, you first."

Wintarn took his place beside Jirachi. "From the arguments I have heard, I believe that there is stronger evidence for the Shade being guilty. I also believe that as long as we still have a good head of our spies, it matters not what happens to the Shade. It is in our benefit to get rid of her, for our own safety."

Pythos spoke next. "The Sssshade has always ssssseemed ssssusssspicccioussss to me. I think ssshe is definitely guilty."

"Whether or not the Shade is guilty," Crystal said on her turn, "I foresee a better outcome in her being proved guilty, than letting her run free."

"I am willing to back up the possibility that she caused the power cut three months back," Circuit argued. "She must have used it for her own advantage."

"Okay, so we have heard one side of the argument," Jirachi said, "let us here the other side. Boulder, you first."

"I believe that the Shade is innocent," she began, "because, if anyone is more dedicated to their job in the Resistance than the Shade, I have not met them yet. Yes, the Shade seems suspicious, but that comes with her job description. She always knew what was best for us, even when Jirachi did not."

"I have read her aura," Orion said, "and whilst it is not pure by any stretch of the imagination, I do not believe this treachery that we have talked about is anywhere in her aura."

"I have no more arguments to make," Storm said gruffly, coughing, "but I can assure you that the Shade is a good pokemon and that treachery is the last thing on her mind." The Shade was touched by the comments made by them, however, the last pokemon to step up was a surprise to her, as it was to Jirachi.

"Well well well, Fungin," Jirachi said as the Breloom stepped up, "when you stopped the Shade, I never expected you to fight for her innocence. Perhaps you were bribed?"

Fungin turned to her with a frown. "Where I came from, those who took bribes from traitors would be executed without trial, just as the traitors would themselves." Jirachi rolled her eyes. "I do not know the Shade and, yes, I stopped her from running away earlier because, I believed it was the right thing to do."

"However, now I see that I made a terrible mistake. I should have let her go. I do not know whether the Shade is innocent or not, but it is clear that she stands no chance here. The council have made a fair vote, but the one who will make the final decision is Jirachi. Even if the council had voted for her innocence, I doubt the Shade would have got out of the Under alive. I do not know what the wish-maker plans, but she is clearly granting her own wishes."

Jirachi was fuming by the end of the argument. The crowd started to question Jirachi amongst themselves. The Shade, on the other hand was smiling. This Breloom deserved to be in charge of her spies more than she did herself. Fungin had managed to stand up in front of the Resistance and tell them that their leader was corrupted.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jirachi started talking. "You thought that was clever, didn't you?" She turned to the crowd. "My friends, it is clear what is going on. The Shade has been planning to take control of the Resistance so Mew has extra hands. She planned to be caught so that her partner in crime, Fungin, could make me look like the enemy. But you aren't smart enough, for I have seen through your plan."

The crowd were torn now. Some saw Jirachi as a villain, but others saw her as the clever hero who outsmarted the enemy. "Everybody," she shouted, "Seize her!" The crowd charged forward with a thirst for blood. Fungin jumped onto the roof of the colosseum, then grabbed a piece of metal hanging from the ceiling. She climbed it and disappeared into the rafters. Fights began to break out amongst the crowd between the Jirachi loyalists and the Shade supporters. Many of the former clawed at the Shade's cage to try and kill her. The council and Jirachi tried, in vain, to cease the violence.

Meanwhile, not far away, Donovan was conversing with a Blaziken guard who had come to report news. He turned to see the violence and sighed. The two of them made their way to the crowd and Donovan screeched as loud as he could.

The crowd stopped fighting. They all turned to the two avians. "Well, go on then," Donovan said, nudging the Blaziken.

The Blaziken looked at the crowd nervously. Sweat poured from his brow. "Jirachi, it's...it's..."

"Spit it out already," Donovan yelled.

"It's Growlithe. He has returned to the realm of the living. He brings a Sandslash, and four humans."

The Shade had the biggest grin on her face as Growlithe, Richmond and four humans appeared. The crowd parted for the group. Jirachi feigned a smile that none saw through. "Growlithe, you're alive! I'm so happy!"

Growlithe was aware of the crowd around him. He glanced around at the caged Shade. Then he turned back to Jirachi and his eyes narrowed. He charged forward at extreme speed and knocked Jirachi over. He bared his fangs, fire flickering behind them. "What the hell!" he screamed. "First Airina and now this!" Tears covered his face and he held his paw over her neck. For nearly half a minute, nobody moved. The only sound was Growlithe's heavy panting. Then he blasted her with fire and was pulled off by Wintarn.

Tensions were high in the Under. Donovan had been flying around trying to keep the peace. A task that seemed almost impossible. The Resistance was tearing apart in front of his very eyes and he knew it would not be long before it split into two; something that could be disastrous for the fights ahead.

He also wondered whether Jirachi was lying or not. It did not change his allegiances though, since he already owed his life to her. He made his way back to the colosseum.

Inside, he slipped silently into Jirachi's office. In one corner, Growlithe was chained up by the foot. Jirachi sat in her seat and faced him, an angry look in her eyes. "You idiot! You could've ruined everything! As it is, we have riots breaking out and the Resistance is breaking in two. To think I called you 'pure'. 'Reviver of Arceus'."

Growlithe growled at her. "And you can talk. Locking up your allies. Wanting Airina dead. You have your own crazy plans and are plotting to get rid of those in your way."

Jirachi's face softened. "Airina? That's what this was about? Growlithe, I never said I wanted Airina dead."

"Yeah? Well, the Shade told me you did."

"The Shade? Of course she would. She's an agent of Mew. She wants the Resistance to split apart so that Arceus can't be revived."

"Huh?" Growlithe looked stunned. "But I thought she was good."

"She played the part of the questionably good, but really planned to spy on us for Mew."

Growlithe thought about this, but was not convinced, yet he still played along. "Okay then, I believe you, but you still haven't answered my question about Airina."

"I never said that I hated Airina. I said not to worry about her because I could see her time was coming to an end."

"Hold on, but I thought you had been cursed that prevented you from using your psychic powers."

"You would be correct Growlithe. However, this is one power I still have. I managed to train myself to use the technique after I was cursed. Have you ever wondered why I am called 'mana seer'? Well, it literally translates as 'aura viewer'. I used to be capable of aura techniques." Growlithe gasped. "Sadly, the only technique I now have is the ability to view the aura of other creatures and see it's life span."

Growlithe looked down. "Did you know I was an aura guardian all along?"

"Yes and I planned to tell you after the battle, speaking of which, I'm glad to see you still have the relic fragment." She turned to Donovan (despite the fact that he had been silent the whole time, she had known he had been there). "Donovan, free Growlithe. He was only misguided by the Shade and should be allowed to go."

Donovan unlocked the shackle that held Growlithe. "I'm sorry Jirachi for acting before thinking," Growlithe apologised.

"That's quite all right Growlithe," Jirachi replied, "it was not your fault you were led to believe I was evil. Now, I suppose your friends shall join you in the fight tomorrow. You should probably organise them. Before we go tomorrow, we will have a purification of our shadow pokemon to give us extra troops if possible. So get up early."

"Don't worry, you can count on me." Growlithe got to the doorway before he stopped and turned around. "Jirachi, do you mind if I ask one last question?"

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering, how did you get cursed to begin with?"

Jirachi gazed into the distance. Donovan looked wide eyed at Growlithe. "No, master, do not tell that story. Please."

Jirachi turned to him. "Donovan, would you please go and gather our leaders to the meeting room. We need to prepare for tomorrow's attack." Donovan nodded and left. "I'm sorry. Donovan finds this story embarrassing. Anyway, it begins in Sinnoh merely one year ago."

"There was a trainer named Dawn who was battling an evil team of thugs called team Galactic, who wanted to create a new world by gathering power from Dialga and Palkia, deities of time and space respectively. However, they did not know that Dialga and Palkia would summon the master of dimensions herself, Giratina. Giratina created a portal to terrible dimension known as the torn world and sucked the leader of team Galactic, named Cyrus and Dawn into it.

"Cyrus, in an attempt to gain control of dimensions, fought Giratina. However, when he got to his Honchkrow, he did not realise that Giratina was about to kill it. Yes, this Honchkrow is Donovan.

"Meanwhile, I had made my way into the torn world to try and help. When I saw Donovan, I took the attack for him. That is how I lost my power. Donovan allowed me to escape on his back and Dawn managed to defeat Giratina and seal her and Cyrus in the Torn world. That is my story. Goodnight Growlithe."

Growlithe looked at her once more and was amazed that she had managed to survive. He had new found respect for her. "Goodnight, Jirachi."

The Shade awoke once more. She had had trouble sleeping on the hard floor of her cell, but this time, she awoke to the sound of footsteps. She glanced up and saw four pokemon walk into the room. Surprisingly, they were Orion, Boulder, Turbine and Fungin. "Hey, what's going on. Can't a girl get some shut eye since she's gonna be executed tomorrow."

"Executed?" Orion said in his posh voice, "not if I have anything to say about it."

"We all came to get you out of here," Turbine said, nervously glancing around.

"That we have," Boulder said gruffly, drawing her claymore, "I recommend you stand back miss, or you'll be missing half yourself."

The Shade did not need to be told twice. She backed to the far corner of the cage. The sword came down with a mighty crash, but for a moment, the bars held. The Shade took a step forward to examine the damage when the bars collapsed with a loud 'clunk'.

Stepping out of the cage, the Shade took in Fungin properly for the first time. "Shouldn't you be half way across the desert by now?"

"Nah, I'm supposed to be your partner in crime, or whatever crap Jirachi said, so I'm joining you."

"Won't that merely prove her right?"

"Who cares, I have no where better to go, so you're stuck with me."

Shade shrugged. "Whatever. Then we should get ready. Someone's going to notice my absence soon and we need to get to Realgam tower as soon as possible."

Orion raised his eyebrows. "Realgam tower, eh. Prey tell what you plan to do there."

"Save you guys half a job. Sneak in, kill the bosses, destroy the machine."

"What do you plan on doing once you've done that?" Boulder asked with a slight grin on her face.

"I don't know. Perhaps kill Mew. Or maybe I'll exact revenge on Jirachi. Who knows."

"Somehow, neither of those seem out of the realms of possibility when you are concerned, Shade. Just leave some for the rest of us when you're done."

"I promise nothing, Boulder." The Shade glanced around impatiently. "I thank you for my freedom, but I think we must leave. Let us go, Fungin." With that, the two disappeared down a corridor.

"Good luck, guys," Turbine commented, "not that you'll need it."

Jirachi looked into the darkness. It enclosed around her. She thought she could feel something beneath her stomach, but she was not sure. She could not move herself, so she tried to drag her body across the empty darkness.

Something appeared behind her. She could make out to red bulbs. Far, yet getting closer with every passing second. _You are mine. _She tried to move faster. Her hand reached out and dragged her heavy steel body with her.

The bulbs were massive now. _You cannot run from that which already has you. _She cried out as they moved overhead. Now she could see other things, glowing red in the darkness. Several red lines and spikes. The bulbs were huge. _You cannot fear that which you understand. _Now she screamed, yet no noise left her. Only darkness escaped her mouth. _You cannot escape that which you already are. _The creature breathed all around her. Red lines glowed in all directions. _Give in to the power. You are mine._

Jirachi awoke suddenly. She could taste bile in her mouth. _"It was just a dream,"_ she thought. She looked at the array of security cameras to see the time displayed on each screen. Four o'clock. She slumped back down in her chair and closed her eyes again.

It took her a few moments to remember what had been strange about the security cameras. When she did remember, she bolted upright. On a screen that belong to a camera that pointed into a tunnel in the north of the Under, a Machamp with four swords was fighting a horde of something. Jirachi stared at the screen, then saw the Machamp collapse with blood pouring out of it. Some people wearing strange white armour walked over it and released a number of savage pokemon.

Jirachi knew that team Cipher had just entered the Under. The day that was meant to be about defeating them had just turned into the day that was all about surviving against them.

* * *

**AN: The final arc of Rise of Shadows shall begin soon (if I stop being lazy). If you haven't guessed already, there will be more than one 'book'. I have a trilogy planned.**


	19. Escape from the Under

**AN: An update that took very little time? Gasp! Don't get used to it.**

* * *

Growlithe bolted upright as he sound of running in the corridor outside. In the room around him, Richmond, Marcia, Michael, Rui and Wes had strewn themselves on the hard ground. They groaned as they stirred. Growlithe dodged between the half-awake bodies and made his way to the door. Outside, he caught a glimpse of Boulder as she turned a corner at the far end of the corridor.

"What is going on?" he muttered to himself, disappearing back into his room. The group were all sitting up by this point.

Wes yawned. "What time is it?"

Rui glanced at her watch. "Twenty past five, or thereabouts."

Wes gaped at her. "Twenty past five! How much sleep are you expected to get around this place? It can't be healthy."

"Well, can we at least get something to eat," Marcia said, rubbing her stomach. "Our moonlight battle has left me hungry." Her stomach rumbled to prove her point.

"I think something might be happening," Growlithe said, feeling slightly uneasy. He wondered if it was the Shade's execution.

Wes pulled himself up. "Whatever it is, let's get it over with so we can grab some breakfast." The group got up and made their way out of the door, following the same route that Boulder had taken.

Richmond walked next to Growlithe. "You feel the same way, don't you?" he asked.

"Something seems very wrong about this morning. I saw Boulder running down the corridor."

Richmond allowed himself the slightest of smiles. "An Aggron running. I'd've liked to have seen that."

As they reached the upper floors of the colosseum, distant shouts and other noises could be heard. "Great, they're at each others throats again," Richmond said. "You'll probably have to convince them that Jirachi is a good leader, Growlithe."

"This is not entirely my fault," Growlithe replied with a growl. The humans of the group reached for their pokeballs. Their pokemon had been healed by an old healing machine in the colosseum. Luckily, none of them had taken any terrible injuries.

In the colosseum entrance, groups of pokemon were being ushered into the gaping doors in the back wall. Behind them, the colosseum battle ground could be found, covered in rubble from the Under's cave in a few years before. Many of the pokemon passing through those doors were young children. Some of the others were pregnant or carrying eggs with them. A few ancient pokemon also passed through. The majority, however, were injured. Circuit guided them in.

She turned to the group as they approached and fixed her central eye on them. The other two continued to watch the crowd. "Ah, Growlithe," she said in an emotionless drone, "Jirachi has given me orders to send you through the secret colosseum exit to take these pokemon safely away."

"Colosseum secret exit?" Growlithe asked.

"Correct. It is a lift that will take you to the surface, just outside of Pyrite. From there, you have orders to take them safely to the northern forests so they can live in relative safety. After that, you are to head to Kanto. You will receive further instructions from the forests near Viridian city."

An explosion shook the heavy metal doors on the colosseum, that had been sealed shut. Before Growlithe could reply, Richmond cut in; "What is going on outside? Has the division of the Resistance gotten so bad as to start a full blown war?"

"Negative. Cipher have found us." She lowered her eyes. "I think my attack on the Shadow lab was partially to blame."

"Do not blame yourself. It was not your fault." Another explosion went off. This one was much closer than the last.

Growlithe bared his fangs. "I should be out there fighting! Not guiding a bunch of weak pokemon."

"Jirachi said that you were too important to be caught in this battle," Circuit replied. "You must go."

He did not like this, but Growlithe fully understood the situation. "Don't worry," Richmond said, putting a claw on his shoulder, "you'll have me to keep you company."

The last of the pokemon were going in. Growlithe was about to join them when a voice laughed. "Growlithe," Storm said, "I see they're sending you away too. Apparently I'm too weak to fight." He spluttered suddenly. "Okay, so I'm slightly ill after being so badly injured."

"I'm sure you'll be a good travel companion," Growlithe replied.

"Of course. Somebody has to. And I doubt the robot is that interesting."

"I am not a robot," Circuit buzzed.

"Whatever." Storm turned to Growlithe. "Shall we get a move on. Your companions are looking restless." He pointed to the humans who had been ignored for a while.

They were about to walk in when an explosion shook the colosseum so violently that they were swept off of their feet. It was followed by a shout of; _"Destroy the bridge before more can cross!" _As they got to their feet, another explosion occurred, this one wrenching the steel doors off of their hinges. Part of the ceiling collapsed, sealing the colosseum battle ground off from the entrance. Peons and shadow pokemon stood in a huge group at the door.

The humans released all of their pokemon. Now they had a full group of twenty seven. Outside, a Flygon swooped down and ripped the bridge apart, sending a number of Cipher agents to their deaths. Some of the peons and shadow pokemon in the colosseum turned around to watch. Circuit took here time to strike. She attracted an iron girder from the rubble to her magnets. She then propelled it into the wall, just above the door.

The entire thing came down on Cipher's heads. Some were buried, others trapped outside. "Let us move," Circuit said. "There is another way to the secret exit."

* * *

The Under was a complete mess. Cipher peons pushed through a number of different tunnels to get into the centre of the town. Shadow pokemon ravaged the streets and ensured that no structure was left standing. In the centre of town, the bridges across the chasm had been destroyed in an attempt to prevent movement, yet there were still peons on both sides.

The peons themselves came in surprisingly overwhelming numbers. There were certainly more than there were able-bodied Resistance members. Each one carried at least one shadow pokemon alongside their normal ones. The battle would almost definitely have been lost instantly were it not for the flying pokemon.

Morgan was renown in the Resistance for being one of the strongest flying-types. He was a Charizard and had fought in more than a few battles. Turbine had put him in charge of the flying-types in the southern part of the town. A group of peons shot at the roof-top he was standing on. He roared as the bullets harmlessly bounced off of his hide. Diving off of the roof, he flew towards the group whilst unleashing a huge flamethrower. The peons were either struck down as he landed or roasted alive in their suits.

Once he had landed, he turned to see one peon still standing, trembling as he held a gun out in front of him. "Go ahead punk," Morgan said, "use your coward's weapon!" The peon, naturally, did not understand, but unleashed a round of bullets all the same. All of them either completely missed or hit him in the heavy chest hide. Morgan took no time to unleash a flame burst after that.

After dealing with them, he flew through the streets until he reached one of the tunnel entrances. He watched from the other end of the street as a horde of shadow pokemon emerged from it. His attacks made short work of the angry pokemon.

Turning once more, he saw a more heavily armoured peon in the tunnel entrance with a huge gun, take aim and fire at him. Morgan ducked as the missile soared over his head. "HA! It seems that was a MISS-ile!" The peon grinned under his mask and the Charizard turned to see the missile rocketing straight towards him. "Ah crap."

Flying as fast as he could, he flew right towards the cavern entrance. The peon dived out of the way, expecting Morgan to fly straight into him. Instead, he made a swift left right in front of the entrance. Sighing with relief, the peon stood up again, only to see the missile hurtling straight towards him. "Ah fu-" The explosion caused the entire tunnel to collapse.

"One down!" Morgan said, pumping his fist in celebration. Several peons charged towards him.

As he fought, a voice hissed in his ear. "It alwayssss hassss to be loud when you fight, doessssn't it?"

He turned whilst still attacking any enemies that came towards him with dragon claws. "Pythos." She was coiled around a peon who attempted, unsuccessfully, to break free. Her tongue darted out and licked the exposed part of his face. The peon began to freak out, but she tightened her grip. She slipped her tail between two parts of her body and the peon went still. "Tell me, do all snakes add so many 's's to their speech."

Pythos growled as she tripped a Pachirisu with her tail. "I'll have you know that it'ssss a sssspeech impediment." She then preceded to devour the Pachirisu whole.

"I may be loud," Morgan said, gagging, "but at least I fight with grace."

"No point wasssting good food," Pythos replied as she swallowed. A scream welled up from inside her as the Pachirisu was digested. "Ssshut up!"

Morgan's eyes widened. "Changing the subject..." He paused to spit fire in the face of one of his attackers. "What's up with your name? I mean, it's clearly based on the extinct pokemon called 'Python', but I've seen pictures of what that looked like and you look more like the extinct pokemon called 'Viper'."

"Well, you ssssee-" Pythos began.

"Pythos!" a voice shouted. An Arbok turned into the street they were in. "We are getting overwhelmed in the east! We need back up."

Pythos turned to Morgan. "Asss commander of the flying-typessss on thissss sssside of town, you sssshould come with me."

"Sounds good." Morgan turned to a large group of pokemon that were forming. He split the group in two. Pointing to the smaller group, he said, "You guys, guard the streets around here, search for any stray Ciphers and ensure that any that get past us are killed."

"You do know the term isss 'peonssss'," Pythos said, chuckling.

"Okay then, 'peonssss'," Morgan mocked.

Pythos growled again. "I could alwayssss eat you too."

"I think you'll find me too big."

"Trust me. You'd be sssssurprisssed by sssssome of the thingsss I've eaten."

Once Pythos decided it would be better not to eat Morgan, they made their way to the east. Morgan went on ahead with a group of flying-types. When they arrived, he met with Orion in the sky above a huge and chaotic battle in a plaza by an entrance tunnel. Below, Crystal commanded the ground force. "Hey, we're here with reinforcements," he said with a grin, "and more are coming with Pythos."

Orion looked grim. "I don't think every fighter in the Under could protect us from the evil that is coming down that tunnel straight towards us."

* * *

Meanwhile, Turbine flew above the colosseum. He no longer seemed nervous as he fired attacks and shouted commands to his troops. He swooped down and grabbed a lump of rubble. As he flew straight towards the ceiling, he released it, little by little, scattering the rocks onto the heads of helpless peons.

Upon reaching the ceiling and releasing the last boulder, Turbine twisted his head around to view the battle below him. His timing was perfect, since he saw a lightning bolt shooting towards him. He rolled out of the way and the bolt harmlessly struck the ceiling.

Looking down again, he saw an Electabuzz, standing on the edge of the chasm, fire another bolt. Turbine tucked in his appendages to reduce his surface area and shot towards the electric type. He spiraled out of the way of several oncoming attacks and landed right behind the Electabuzz. As soon as he hit the ground, a fissure shot across the ground and tripped the Electabuzz. It roared and continued to fire attacks even as it plummeted to it's death.

A peon mounted on a Noctowl flew towards Turbine, but before it could strike, a blizzard buffeted them backwards and knocked the peon off of their mount and into the chasm. The Noctowl soon followed as it fainted in another blizzard.

Turbine turned to see Wintarn behind him. "Nice job with the Electabuzz," he said in his gruff voice.

"Thanks for dealing with that Noctowl," Turbine replied, "but I think I could have handled it."

Before Wintarn could reply, a loud, collective roar informed them that a group of shadow pokemon were charging towards them. At least ten were only a few yards away and more behind that. Wintarn summoned a hail storm that did little to deter them, but this was only to help power up his blizzard.

Turbine, meanwhile, flew into the air and charged a hyper beam. Before the two of them could unleash their attacks, Boulder charged into the fray from one of the side streets, her zweihander in only one hand. She sliced seven of the front pack to pieces, leaving the two furthest away from her and an Armaldo whose armour had not been penetrated.

The two further pokemon were unperturbed by their comrades falling and continued running until a combination of hyper beam and blizzard killed them. The Armaldo, however, roared and turned towards Boulder. She slashed it again, but the armour was too strong to slice through and the pokemon was too sturdy to be knocked down by the strength of the sword.

More shadow pokemon were upon them as Armaldo attempted to retaliate. Boulder did not give it a chance and used her iron tail to sweep it off of it's feet, along with a large chunk of the other shadow pokemon. She took the opportunity to pin down the Armaldo in one hand and make a precision cut with the sword.

Once she withdrew her sword, the metal plating on Armaldo fell away to reveal pink flesh. It did not make any cries as she plunged her sword right through the chest. Blood oozed from the wound, but Armaldo managed to stand up and attempted to face Boulder. However, not feeling pain does not prevent wounds from effecting you, so the Armaldo collapsed once more and this time, lay still.

She turned to the chasm and saw that the ground had turned completely white with a mixture of hail and snow. The area was nearly empty. Few pokemon were fighting and those that were needed no help. The three pokemon looked at each other. "Where the hell is Jirachi?" she asked in an irritated tone. "And that bloody bird Donovan."

"I'm sure she has her reasons for not being here," Wintarn said. "Maybe she is on the other side of the under, defending an entrance tunnel."

"More like; using one of her hidden tunnels to escape," Turbine retorted.

"Oh, I see," Wintarn said, irritated, "just because I voted against the Shade, you two are ganging up on me."

"What are you babbling on about?" Boulder said. "We were only saying that we could use Jirachi on the battlefield. Word is, she still has some of her power and that could be very helpful."

"She's bloody-" Wintarn began before he stopped and examined the surroundings. The only pokemon around were members of the Resistance. Further down the street, they were chasing Cipher peons back towards the entrance tunnels.

The other two looked around. "Have we won?" Turbine asked.

"No," Wintarn replied, "this is only the calm before the storm."

The other two looked around again. Across the chasm, battles continued to rage. A few of the flying types landed near the three commanders and gave various greetings. Most were partaking in the other battles.

There were sudden screams from further down the streets alongside louder roars and the sounds of pokemon being torn apart. The three of them turned to look towards the other end of the street. What they saw at the other end struck fear in their very bones. A lone Stoutland marched up the road, or at least, something which was shaped like a Stoutland. The only colours on it were purple, grey and deep red eyes. Seeing them, the creature roared and more of these strange pokemon marched in from side streets.

"What have Cipher done?!" Boulder said nervously as she watched doom march towards them.

* * *

The group in the colosseum ran. The humans had returned their pokemon so that they would not be slowed down. Dust scattered from the ceiling every so often as the colosseum shook. Not to far behind them, the shouts and cries of Cipher could be heard. Nobody spoke. Their path soon brought them down a flight of stairs and into the first floor of the basement.

"This is not a part of the basement that I have seen," Growlithe said, looking at the multitude of potential paths. "Which way are we suppose to go?"

"Follow me," Circuit buzzed. "Jirachi taught me the correct route in case of emergency." None of them argued and followed behind her.

After climbing a flight of stairs, they soon arrived at a room not dissimilar to the one that Cipher had blown up. It had a desk in it and the carpet was much cleaner. Beyond the desk they could see the ruins of the old colosseum battle ground. The noticeable difference in the room was that a few pokemon crowded around a small lift shaft.

When the platform arrived again, the group saw that there was a problem. The lift was a small square of metal which looked as though it could just about fit Growlithe, Richmond, Circuit, Storm and the humans. However, besides them, there were still about twice that amount of pokemon who needed to use it. That meant it would take three trips for all of them to evacuate.

The next group got onto the lift. Despite the maze they had run through, team Cipher's voices could be heard faintly from the adjoining corridor. "Looks like we're going to have to fight them," Richmond said quietly. The humans reached for their pokeballs again.

Before they could release their pokemon, Circuit moved into their way. "Wait," she said as her silver body began to gain a red tinge to it, "I will deal with them."

The group (or those that could understand) gasped. "But, if you explode, you'll play right into Cipher's hands," Storm said, exasperatingly, "they'll kill you. Or WORSE!"

The lift arrived again, taking the last group with them. "I calculate that the lift will be far too slow and that Cipher will be upon us before it returns." Circuit now glowed a deeper red. "My fate has been sealed. Go! Save yourselves and the group you take with you! You do not know how important they will be."

She turned and floated into the doorway. A few Cipher peons were at the far end of the corridor. Without turning, she said one last thing and no-one knew whether it was for them to hear or if it was something she said to herself; "I am not a robot." She passed over the threshold and the metal door swung shut.

The resulting explosion was not the most impressive that day, but it certainly affected everyone who heard it more than the other ones.

* * *

Jirachi lay down on the hard metal. Donovan stood nearby, watching the door. The room was small. No bigger than a large cupboard. Pitch blackness surrounded them. They were far below the Under and could not hear the sounds of the battle above. The same words echoed through her head again. _"You are mine." "You cannot run from that which already has you" "You cannot fear that which you understand." " You cannot escape that which you already are." "Give in to the power." "You are mine." "You are mine." "You are mine."_

She sat up sharply. Looking over at Donovan, she said, "Please, sit down beside me."

"Of course, master," Donovan said, walking over to where Jirachi sat. He settled beside her.

Jirachi said nothing. She just lay her head down on Donovan's soft feathers. It did not take long for her to fall asleep. A dreamless sleep. Or so she believed...


	20. Light fails

The sun began to pierce the skies over Cerulean city as team Rocket arrived at a mysterious cave entrance. Said entrance was covered in various marks which showed that there had been a battle here at some point. Rubble surrounded the entrance, creating a further indication of a battle. However, it was not a recent affair. Many of the rocks had moss covering parts of them.

Tabitha stared at the darkness beyond. Everyone had been equipped with a torch, but the darkness seemed unnatural. No sunlight passed the very line which marked the cave entrance. He turned to Watcher who, because of his name, had been assigned to guard their rear. He briefly nodded his head.

At the entrance, Giovanni turned to face his underlings. To either side of him was one of team Rocket's executives. Proton stood tall and proud on the left whilst the slightly strange, purple-haired Petrel, who had a rather crooked walk, slouched to his right. He also looked as though he was on a constant high, but most presumed that was because of his Weezing. Twenty of the more competent grunts stood around them.

"My friends," Giovanni began, "today, we shall march in here and retrieve the ultimate pokemon. I cannot guarantee that you will all survive, but those that don't shall be giving their life to a greater cause." The group cheered. Giovanni was the sort of man who could stand up on stage, say what he liked and still receive a cheer.

His eyes focused on Tabitha. "Are you ready, Tabitha?"

Tabitha gave a fierce smile. "I will always be ready!" So, the Rockets entered the pitch black cave, their torches doing little to the darkness.

* * *

They were still in shock when they arrived at the surface. Storm most of all. "I was insulting her not long before her death," he muttered to himself. "It feels wrong."

The sunlight was a stark contrast to the gloom of the Under. However, this was not the most noticeable thing about the morning. Loud shouts came from the north (which would have been odd had it not been that Pyrite town lay east of them).

It did not take them long to find the source. They soon found the marching column they were supposed to be guarding only, they were not in much of a column. Instead, they were all gathered in a semi-circle around two pokemon.

Growlithe gasped when he saw that they were the Shade and a Breloom. One of the pokemon assigned to guarding the column, a Swampert, stomped up to them. "Oi! You two! You'd better run before I beat you to a pulp and send you back to Jirachi."

Another guard, this one a Stantler, also stepped forward. "Leave them alone. It's Jirachi that's in the wrong."

The Swampert growled at her. "I'd be careful if I were you. I could beat your brains out."

"I'd like to see you try, you flabby mud-fish."

"That's it!" he roared. "Feel my fist!" He raised his arm.

Before he could hit the Stantler, a shout cut him off. "This is not part of your duty," Richmond said in his best formal voice. "Go back and guard the column. Both of you." The Stantler moved away immediately. The Swampert glared at him briefly, but also obeyed.

After the column was re-organised to it's original state and moving again, Growlithe and Richmond started following it from behind, talking with the Shade and the Breloom who, of course, was Fungin. "So much for being executed," Growlithe said.

The Shade winked at him. "Did you really think I'd let them execute me? To be fair, if it wasn't for Fungin, Boulder, Turbine and Orion, I'd be rather screwed."

"That doesn't sound like the Shade who trained me," Richmond said. "She would never have given up. Ever."

"Maybe, but I'd still need to find a way to escape, which, trust me, is harder than it looks."

"What exactly are you doing here?" Growlithe asked, changing the subject. "Surely, you should be as far away as possible by now."

"Not quite," the Shade said. "I knew we'd see you sooner of later. I was wondering if you might join us."

"Where to?"

"Why, it would be a perfect time, since Cipher think they've defeated their threats."

Growlithe grabbed the Shade's shoulders and shook her. "Tell me! Where?"

"Alright, sheesh," the Shade replied, pulling his paws away from her, "Realgam tower."

Silence fell over them all. It was only broken when Rui turned from her conversation with the humans. "Did you just say Realgam?"

"Yes," the Shade said, feeling slightly annoyed. "How come you can invade my personal space and listen to my conversation? And interact with me?"

"I'm an aura guardian," Rui said nonchalantly.

"In that case, we could take my bike, assuming it hasn't been stolen in the last few years," Wes said, joining the conversation. "It would be quicker than walking." Rui repeated the words to the pokemon.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Marcia said. "I also have a bike. I think we can just about get all of the pokemon on the two bikes between us. Assuming neither has been stolen."

"Thanks, but I'd rather fly on Dragonite, personally," Michael said. "Or take my own bike, but that's at pokemon HQ. Assuming Cipher didn't steal it."

"Well, since we don't have any better modes of transport, I guess this will be okay," the Shade said. "How do you feel about this, Fungin?"

"I don't really care much," she answered, "as long as we get to Realgam before they use the machine."

"We can't really guarantee they haven't already, but we just have to pray." The Shade turned to Growlithe. "You should probably inform the marchers of what you're doing. It may give them hope."

"I will," Growlithe replied. With that, Wes, Rui and Marcia headed back into Pyrite, whilst Growlithe informed the column of what he was going to do.

* * *

The battle on the south side of the Under had become a massacre. By the entrance tunnels, a horde of ten sinister, purple pokemon charged into the streets. More than a few fighters in the front line were killed and ripped to pieces, trying desperately to unleash attacks. The attacks that did hit the enemy were shrugged off.

In the sky, Orion cursed. His eyes were closed as he fired aura spheres at the enemy. Each sphere hit their target, but the pokemon did not even flinch. "They should at least cleanse some of the dark aura every time they make contact!" he yelled to no-one in particular.

A sinister Swoobat flew out of the tunnel and attempted to assault Orion. Luckily, Orion could sense the pokemon and flew upwards, launching an aura sphere that did nothing to it.

"It seems ironic that that thing evolved through happiness," a Yanmega commented before the Swoobat hit it so hard that it died before it hit the ground. The heart-shaped mark in it's stomach informed all of how it died.

Morgan unleashed a flame burst that seemed to anger the Swoobat more than harm it. "Form up!" he commanded his ranks. "Protect Orion and any aura guardians at all costs!" His flying types made a tight circle around Orion as more sinister pokemon flew out of the tunnel.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Morgan," Orion said sadly, "I cannot purify them."

"What!?" Morgan exclaimed, grimacing as he slashed at a Swellow.

"We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

"Which is?"

"To death."

Morgan looked at him for a second, whilst trying to choke a Pidgeot unsuccessfully. "I've been doing that the whole time anyway."

A Pelipper dived past both of them and picked up a sinister Forretress. It flew around in a very strange manner, knocking over both friend and foe alike. Eventually, it hit a building and there was a purple explosion as the Forretress decided to blow up. Unlike the ordinary explosion attack, there was nothing remaining of the two pokemon, or the building for that matter.

Morgan stared at the area until he was assaulted by a Gliscor whom he smashed with his tail. "Who the hell did that!?"

A Misdreavus floated towards him. "I did it with my confuse ray," she said shyly.

"Nice. What's your name?" The Gliscor tried to bite Morgan's tail, so he spat a flamethrower in it's face.

She turned invisible as the Swoobat returned. Appearing behind it, she launched a shadow ball at it. "Enigma. Or 'Eni' for short."

"All right then," Morgan said, punching the Gliscor so hard it left an imprint in the ground. "Everyone who can confuse, unleash your confusions!" Volleys of numerous attacks flew towards the ever growing number of sinister pokemon around.

Hearing him, Crystal gave the same order to her psychics. They had found themselves repelled by the anger in the minds of the sinister pokemon. About half of the sinister pokemon were confused, but this did not guarantee that they would attack themselves. More often than not, they kept attacking their enemy simply because there were more of them.

Crystal herself had managed to enter the mind of a Heracross. The foul emotions were determined to push her out, or send her insane, yet she persisted. Mostly, she heard pieces of human conversations, referring to a variety of topics from pokemon torture to whether the Torchic or the egg came first. Above all of this, she heard continuous screams and something else; _You will be my XD79._

She tried to crush the pokemon with her mind, but only managed to hurt it somewhat. However, the pokemon did not react. That was how she worked out exactly what they were.

Pythos arrived just then with a huge group of back up. They charged into battle to try and catch the enemy off guard. However, the sinister pokemon were in a large enough group that some were able to turn and face Pythos' group.

An Emolga glided by. "If you'll excusssse me," Pythos said politely, "I just love sssssquirrel." She reached up and snapped up the sinister pokemon in her mouth.

It was not until the screeching began that anyone knew there was something wrong. Crystal wanted to yell at her to throw up, but had to deal with a Kangaskhan whose earthquake made it difficult to move. Morgan wanted to dive down and give the Heimlich manoeuvre, but the Gliscor re-emerged, looking no worse for wear. Eni did manage to get there, but did not know what to do. Orion knew that he could do nothing.

The screeching did not come from the Emolga, as might be expected. Instead, it came from Pythos' mouth. Her stomach burst open, spilling acid everywhere. The Emolga emerged again, nothing more than a skeleton. Orion could still see the black aura, but it quickly dissipated, the skeleton collapsing. _"Let's see if we can find a not so fatal way to kill them," _he thought.

* * *

The sinister Stoutland continued marching forward, it's troop trailed behind it. Wintarn was the first to react, aiming a blizzard at them once they were about fifty feet away. Boulder grabbed some rubble and tossed it into the fray. Turbine fired a hyper beam into the group.

The blizzard managed to send some of the lighter pokemon sprawling backwards. The rubble shattered every time it collided with a sinister pokemon, seemingly having no physical affect. The hyper beam did the most. It took out a large chunk of the group. However, the group rose again and had no noticeable injuries.

Angry, Turbine flew up into the air. "Don't be such a fool, Turbine!" Boulder yelled. "You'll get yourself killed!

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he replied. He flew up into the air and dived, head first, into the Stoutland. The Stoutland was sent flying over it's cohorts and landed in a pile of rubble. Turbine arced upwards again, sweeping a Toxicroak off it's feet.

A few sinister pokemon turned around and made their way towards the Stoutland. A few of them attempted to rip it to pieces, but were repelled by the black aura. The Stoutland arose and growled at the offenders so they would get off of it. It turned back towards the Under's attack force, who were now engaging with the sinister pokemon directly. And dying.

Turbine continued to claw at the Toxicroak, whilst guarding himself from other pokemon. For the most part, the sinister pokemon were outnumbered two-to-one, but this did not stop them from ganging up on one pokemon. He felt sick when in close proximity to any of the sinister pokemon, but kept up a relentless attack all the same. He knew that the Toxicroak would eventually get hurt or die.

He heard another roar from the Stoutland. It charged through the battle and turned to Wintarn, who was distracted by a Cacturne. A strange dark-purple aura-akin to it's skin colour-filled the pokemon's mouth. Turbine yelled at Wintarn, but he could not hear himself over the din of the battle.

Left with no other option, Turbine hurled rocks with his ancient power at the now slower Toxicroak-these ones did not shatter, but buried the Toxicroak instead—and flew as fast as he could towards the Stoutland, dodging other pokemon in the air.

By the time he arrived, the aura had become bigger than the Stoutland. Turbine did the one thing he could do. He flew out in front of the shadow hyper beam to block it from Wintarn. He squawked as the purple beam collided with his body.

Wintarn turned to see the ancient bird standing with his back bent, panting fast. He was covered in wounds on his front. However, the Stoutland was not tired at all from it's unleash of energy. In fact, there was a slight red glow forming around it's body. Once again, it charged up a shadow hyper beam.

Turbine flew towards it as fast as he could in his current state. He heard Wintarn cry out; "No!" He did not turn around though. The Stoutland, unsurprisingly, did not react when he grabbed it. The red aura felt as though it was trying to tear him apart, but he was not sure if that was just because of his bodily condition.

He flew up, carrying the Stoutland with him. The hyper beam was still charging, but he paid it no heed. His eyes were fixed upon his target. The ravine was close, but he had to fly faster.

The hyper beam was almost fully charged when he flew right over the ravine. He released the Stoutland and almost felt a sense of relief as the purple light-show burnt off the last of his feathers and a lot of his flesh besides. His last thoughts were a wish for the Resistance to win.

Wintarn watched silently as the Stoutland plummeted to it's death. _"That's it," _he thought as the Cacturne attempted to punch him with a needle arm. He grabbed the arm carefully, so as to avoid the spikes, and flung the cactus straight over his shoulder. It landed with a thump, but rose again, only to be buffeted by a blizzard.

The fight was over quickly after that. The sinister Cacturne, for all it's power of shadow, was unable to stand against the wind and snow. It slipped over, face-first into the snow. It roared, but continued to slide backwards until it tumbled into the ravine with a clump of snow.

"Use weather attacks to push the enemy into the ravine!" Wintarn commanded over the roar of the battle. "Slip behind the enemy!" His troops did just that. He saw an Onix slither behind a sinister Exploud and spray it with a sandstorm.

The streets became a mess of sand, snow, hail and rain, all made worse by a Castform that decided to summon a small tornado into the midst of the storm. Wintarn slipped down a side street to try and get behind the enemy. However, his path was blocked by a huge Volcarona, which launched a fire spin at the Abomasnow.

The swirling flames missed Wintarn by inches as he dived behind a bin. Some of his (normally) permanent snow cloak melted, revealing his green body. He could feel the heat as the Volcarona loomed over.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and Wintarn grabbed a piece of fallen rubble as tightly as he could. The Volcarona was sucked into the Castform's tornado as it swept down the alley. The bin that Wintarn had been hiding behind was also swept away. "All right, sir?" the Castform shouted as it passed by.

The tornado made it's way towards the ravine, where it dissipated, sending a number of sinister pokemon to their doom. "Ha ha, piece of cake," the Castform said with a grin, floating towards Wintarn, wearing it's snow cloak.

"Good work, Gale," Wintarn congratulated. "Do you think you could do that again?"

Winds rippled around Gale. "Shall we see?" Before the tornado formed, however, flames welled up around the Castform and struck her.

"Get away!" Wintarn shouted, forming a blizzard. The Volcarona, however, retaliated with a heat wave. Wintarn grunted as the heat passed through his body, melting any remaining bits of his snow cloak.

"How about I dampen your spirits," Gale said, rising from the ground and summoning a rain storm. Her body shimmered so that her head became engulfed in a large rain drop. The Volcarona tried to use flare dance, but it was to little affect.

It was not beat yet, though. It summoned it's own wind storm. A hurricane blew through the battlefield, sending Wintarn, Gale and any other pokemon towards the ravine.

Wintarn was inches from the edge of the ravine when he saw a Kirlia dance nimbly through the storm and slash at the Volcarona with two short swords. The hurricane died off as it decided to turn it's attention towards the Kirlia. That was a mistake because, as soon as it made a move, a larger sword passed right through the sinister pokemon.

The purple skin sealed itself around the blade, but the damage was done. The Volcarona's vital organs had been pierced, and no amount of shadowy aura would save it. It collapsed and fell still.

Boulder pulled the claymore out of the insect's back and wiped the blade off with a metal arm. She licked the blood off of her hand. "Nothing like the taste of blood and metal."

* * *

Crystal sought out Orion as the battles raged. She felt through each pokemon's minds (unless they were guarded with their own psychic abilities) until she reached a Charizard and a Misdreavous. Telepathically, she communicated with them. "Get Orion to lower his mental guards for me."

"You can do telepathy?!" Morgan replied. "You mean you could look into anyone's mind and learn their deepest, darkest secrets?!"

"Of course she can," Eni answered, "She's an Alakazam."

"Correct," Crystal said, "and I already know all of your secrets." She could sense the two of them paling. "Now, can you get Orion for me?"

"Yes ma'm," they both said simultaneously.

Crystal waited a few moments before hearing; "This really is not a good time Crystal."

"Orion, I think I know exactly what these sinister pokemon are. Do you remember XD001?"

"Shadow Lugia? I never saw it in person, but I know of it. What about it?"

"These things are the same type of thing. Cipher must have found a way to mass produce them. However, you must have checked the aura."

"Indeed I have. It's excruciating even to look at."

"Imagine how it must feel for the pokemon inside."

"You're not suggesting..."

"Yes. I checked inside several heads. They don't feel a thing. They must be afflicted with something that blocks their emotions, otherwise they wouldn't be able to function."

Orion paused for a few moments. Just as Crystal thought he would not reply, he returned to the conversation. "Sorry. That Swoobat won't be getting up again. Anyway, I know of an aura technique that could give them back their emotions. The downside is that on this scale, it will be difficult and I'll require all of my guardians to help."

"I'll gather them by the nearest tunnel entrance. That way, any others coming down the tunnel should be affected." Orion left and Crystal hunted for the aura guardians.

A few minutes later, Orion had his eyes closed along with the other guardians, his back to the tunnel entrance. Crystal watched in awe as the XD pokemon began to react. However, she never would have anticipated what happened next.

Two arms shot out of the tunnel. They grabbed one of Orion's wings each and pulled them until they were ripped from their sockets. Orion screamed in agony. The XD pokemon stopped reacting and started going rampant again. A huge muscular man stepped out of the tunnel. Orion slowly descended to the ground, where a fresh horde of XD pokemon waited for him.

"YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TRIED THAT," the man boomed. A number of peons stepped out behind him, each surrounded by pokemon. He gestured to them. "KILL ALL OF THE AURA GUARDIANS FIRST." His voice echoed over the screams as Orion was torn to pieces.

* * *

**AN: I may have gone a bit 'kill crazy' with this one. Sorry.**


	21. Into the Tower of Terror

Boulder and Wintarn stood side by side, staring at possibly the strangest human they had ever seen (then again, they lived below Pyrite). Behind them, the majority of their surviving army—down to a measly fifty pokemon—watched with them as another horde of sinister pokemon flooded the main street. Gale floated beside Wintarn, and the Kirlia waited next to Boulder.

The man moved down the street on all fours, his hands curled into fists. As if to compliment this gorilla-like appearance, his legs were much shorter than his muscular torso. He wore red armour and a matching dome-shaped helmet covered his head. A pair of goggles covered his eyes, whilst another pair hung from his neck. A large wrench was tucked into a belt at his side and a rifle hung from his back.

Around him stood six surprisingly normal pokemon; a Slowking, an Ursaring, a Walrein, a Glalie, an Electivire and an Aggron. Boulder's eyes narrowed at the Aggron. The monkey-man spoke; "You have one chance. Surrender to Gorigan and your lives will be spared. Of course, you will become shadow pokemon." He grinned.

Boulder glanced back. No-one made a move. The sinister pokemon stood restlessly in front of Gorigan. "Answer them, Godwin," the Aggron said to the Kirlia.

Godwin disappeared, teleporting away. He reappeared on the other side of the horde of sinister pokemon and, before anyone could react, struck the Slowking in the chest with both his swords. However, the swords struck an invisible wall.

Gorigan laughed. "Nice reflect, Slowking. Now kill it." Slowking's eyes glowed blue as it attempted to penetrate Godwin's mind. Godwin reacted by teleporting back to Boulder's side. Growling, Gorigan turned to his army of sinister pokemon. "XD pokemon, attack!" So the third wave advanced.

* * *

Realgam tower stood ominously above the desert sands. At other times, Realgam would have been crowded with spectators and fighters wanting to get into the arena far above as well as gamblers, drinking as they passed into the large casino, half buried in the sand. The majority of the Realgam complex was a network of metal tunnels in the sand with glass roofs.

On that day, however, only one group of people were outside Realgam. Gonzap was amazed that he had managed to scrounge up thirty Snagem members. Not twenty-four hours ago, his group dwindled to just over ten members, himself included.

They stood behind the central spire of the tower, so as to not be seen by anyone using the lift inside. They gazed intently at a rather strange meteorite that had been planted in the sand, right beside the spire. "I'm telling you, this will not work," Skarmory told Gonzap, once again.

"You worried too much," Gonzap replied casually. He turned to Agrev, his electronics expert. He wore blue sunglasses and had a large black device that stretched around his head, covering both ears. Agrev said it was a portable radio, but Gonzap was suspicious. "Is it set up?"

"Indeed it is, Gonzap," Agrev replied in a stereotypical Orre accent (akin to typical a wild western accent). He tossed Gonzap a small black gadget. "Just press the big red button when you're ready."

Gonzap frowned at the remote. "That's the only button." Agrev shrugged in reply. "This has been tested, right?"

"It's a bomb. Of course it hasn't been tested."

"Ah. Yes. Of course."

Agrev pointed to a huge brown rock several hundred feet away. "I recommend we go hide over there."

Once team Snagem were safe behind the rock—thirty heads poking around the sides—Gonzap pressed the button. Skarmory stared as nothing happened. "I told you."

Gonzap gave Agrev a look. "Give it a few seconds, boss."

A few minutes, and several hundred presses of the red button later, they concluded that the bomb would, most definitely, not work. Gonzap walked over to the tower with Skarmory, Wakin, Agrev and another grunt called Biden who was their scout (armed with binoculars), and checked the meteorite. Instead of an explosion, the meteorite had a rectangular hole in it. Gonzap stuck his hand in it. He pulled out a piece of paper reading; _'I knew you would not bother to check the interior. You've been trolled. Yours faithfully, your favourite woman, Venus.'_

Scrunching up the piece of paper, Gonzap scowled. "Aggravating us from beyond the grave."

"Now what do we do?" Wakin asked. "We can't blow the tower up. How do we destroy Cipher now?"

"Well, I guess we just have to-" Gonzap began before he was interrupted.

"Sir!" Biden said, looking through his binoculars. "You may want to have a look at this." He handed him the binoculars.

Looking through the binoculars, Gonzap gasped (Skarmory did as well, since he had 'keen eye' for his ability). He could see three specs on the horizon—one flying above the other two—but there was no mistaking it. "It looks like he got my message after all."

* * *

Two bikes sped across the desert. Rui sat directly behind Wes on his bike (if they had not been a couple for a good five years or so, it may well have been awkward). The Shade and Fungin rode in the bike's side-car, both feeling a bit uncomfortable using human technology. On Marcia's bike, Growlithe rode as he had previously and Richmond held onto him incredibly tightly. Michael and his Dragonite flew somewhere far above.

Wes grinned. "It feels good to back on this beauty," he exclaimed. Rui frowned, but said nothing. "How about we see what's on the radio?" He reached for the controls.

"I don't think that's a good-" Rui began as he pressed the 'on/off' button.

"DISHWASHERS!" An announcer exclaimed at an incredibly high volume. That was all he got to say before Wes changed the channel.

"-and so, Fluffy the Glameow was found just this morning under the pile of scrap metal," a much quieter (not that that was difficult) voice said. "Much to our amazement, she was dead. You'd think that a Glameow could survive five days with no way to get food or water, but oh well."

Wes rolled his eyes at the typical drivel of Radio Orre and was about to switch the radio off when the voice started sounding more serious; "Breaking news! Team Cipher have attacked Olivine City; a major port in Johto for those of you with no knowledge of geography."

"Wait. What?!" Wes exclaimed. "How the hell is Cipher able to send a large force to the Under and still have enough troops to attack Olivine?"

"They are stronger than we assumed," Rui replied. "They must have ties in Johto."

"The people of Olivine are failing," a different voice continued on the radio. "Without their gym leader, they are disorganised and do not look like they'll hold out much longer. I say we surrender to our new lords and masters."

"Ha ha ha," the first voice laughed. "Thanks Kelly. Now time for the weather. It will be sunny all day, with a chance of sandstorms. This is Orre, what did you expect?"

Rui looked over Wes' shoulder and pointed out. "Look, we're here." Outstretched in front of them was a mass of glass tubes sunken into the sand and further away, Realgam tower. Whilst Wes gazed at it, Rui reached out and switched off the radio.

The group arrived at the main entrance. A Sudowoodo statue stood tall either side of the gaping doorway. Despite Realgam being closed, the door slid open without the need of a key. The floor was made out of marble and inside was a plush red carpet.

Michael landed, returned his Dragonite and glanced around. "Shouldn't there be more guards? Or some guards to begin with?"

"Cipher wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves," Rui said.

Wes looked at the vast, empty desert. "Whose attention are they going to draw exactly?"

"Regardless," Marcia said, climbing off of her bike, "Cipher probably know we're here already."

"In which case, we need to be careful," Fungin said. So they crossed the threshold into one of the glass tunnels.

Finding their way to the tower entrance was easy. When Evice had originally designed the tower, he had needed to account for incredibly dumb peons. The entrance itself had similar flooring to the rest of the complex. The ceiling was a glass dome. Around the edge of the room was a moat of still water whilst in the centre stood a stone fountain with a statue of Raikou, Entei and Suicune on it. And in front of the fountain stood a line of peons with guns pointed.

"You won't be going any further," the leader, a peon in blue said.

"All right then," Wes replied, "in that case, we'll just leave." He pointed to the corridor behind them with his thumb.

A bullet breezed past his head. "Take one step in any direction and you die."

"Aren't you going to kill us anyway?" Marcia commented.

"Shut up!" the peon yelled.

Suddenly, some of the panes of glass in the dome shattered and a number of red and white spheres fell onto the group of peons. The blue peon picked up one next to him and examined it. "Hmm, what a strange pokeball." Two eyes opened on the ball and stared at him. He shrieked and Wes laughed at him.

The peons started to freak out and attempted to chuck the balls away. However, they just rolled back to them. "Voltorbs!" they shouted. One peon, who had been knocked over by the object that hit him, groaned. "Why did I have to get the Electrode?" The Electrode sat on his stomach grinned maliciously. Then, they all exploded.

Not only were the peons killed and burnt, but a crater had formed in the middle of the floor. The ball pokemon had fallen unconscious and were scattered around the crater. Oddly enough, the statue had taken no damage, despite it's close proximity.

Ropes dropped down from the ceiling and a large group of bald men in brown uniforms descended (most took the ropes, but a few chose to jump down instead. The result was not pretty). "Oh Arceus," Wes said as a particularly muscular man with a strange mustache and a Skarmory flying beside him, landed, "please bring those peons back from the dead to kill me now."

"Wes!" Gonzap exclaimed, running towards him and giving him a bear hug. "Looks like we were just in time."

Wes let out a strange noise. "You can let go now, Dad," he managed to say.

"That's his father?!" Growlithe exclaimed. "They don't look alike at all."

"My father and I look nothing alike either," Marcia said.

Rui watched the two through closed eyes, pleased to see that Gonzap's aura was much less evil than last she saw him. "That's because Wes merely considers Gonzap to be his father. He never knew his father and Gonzap brought him up. Not particularly well, mind you."

"So, how was Unova, Wes?" Gonzap asked, finally releasing his adopted son.

"Fine until your call. Sadly, you weren't joking."

Gonzap turned to Rui. "Good to see you've been turning him good."

"I wouldn't even dream of doing anything else," Rui replied.

His eyes fell on Michael. "It's been a while, Michael. How goes your work?"

"Fine thank you," Michael said slightly irritated. "I suppose you're still a petty thug."

"We call it business." Gonzap faced Marcia. "Still causing chaos for Cipher, I see. And you appear to have gathered a few new companions. Including a cool Kecleon with a knife."

"I think crime fighting just might be more interesting than journalism."

"I should kill them for even considering it," the Shade said to Fungin, noticing a number of Snagem grunts were eyeing her up.

"Like it or not," Fungin said, "I think these are our allies. Save the killing for the enemy. They're unlikely to catch you anyway."

"I guess so, but it's the principle."

"Listen, as nice as this reunion is," Michael said sarcastically, "Cipher are going to inflict their curse upon the entire world if we don't hurry."

"How are we going to get up to the colosseum?" Wes said. "The lift is barely big enough for two."

"Obviously we'll fly," Gonzap said. He turned to his grunts. "I presume you all have flying pokemon like I said." A few groaned. "That aren't Doduo or Dodrio." A couple more groaned.

"De ja vu," Skarmory commented.

"I don't have a flying-type big enough," Wes said, "and neither does Rui."

"Don't worry. You can ride on Skarmory with me."

Wes examined Skarmory. "He doesn't look big enough for three. Where will Rui go?"

"Don't worry about me, Wes," Rui replied, "I'll take Tropius since there's enough space. Plus you need some father/son time."

Wes sighed. "Fine, I'll take Skarmory with you, Dad." Growlithe, Richmond, Rui and Marcia managed to fit onto Tropius, whilst Fungin and the Shade clambered aboard Dragonite with Michael. Team Snagem climbed onto their pokemon (or someone else's if they did not have one). Gonzap and Wes flew at the head of the flock, aiming for the huge colosseum at the top of Realgam tower.

* * *

"Bugger!" Growlithe said, pulling himself off of the ground. The colosseum was already a war-zone. The red and blue tiles that once made up the colosseum floor flew up into the air as explosions hit the ground. Above the colosseum was tiered seating and further up, a number of towers that made up the Realgam battle frontier.

Tropius landed beside him. "Sorry, it's not easy to avoid that many hyper beams." Rui and Marcia dismounted and sent out their pokemon. "Haven't broken anything, have you?"

"No, it was a short fall," Growlithe said, "but it was still painful."

"Quit whining," Shelgon said as she appeared, "we have a battle to win."

"We don't have a battle to win. That's Snagem's job. We have to find Evice and quickly."

Dragonite and Skarmory landed and their passengers dismounted, releasing their pokemon. Tropius shook herself and a sick-looking Richmond slid off her back and onto the ground. "Flying is now going to be added to the list of things I will never do again," he groaned as Growlithe helped him up.

"Okay then," Marcia said, "where exactly are we going?"

The Shade gazed upwards whilst everyone else glanced around the battlefield. She was looking at a large blue tower with many windows in it's walls. At the top, a number of armed peons watched, ready to fire their rifles at a moments notice. Several airships hovered next to rooms including Ein's personal one. "You'd think they would hide their guards so they wouldn't attract attention," she commented.

All the pokemon heard this and turned towards the tower. This attracted the attention of the trainers. Their jaws dropped. "Well, we're not flying up there," Michael said.

"So we're going to climb it instead?" Marcia asked. "That's probably even more dangerous."

"We don't have much of a choice. In the air, we are sitting Psyducks. In the tower, there may be obstacles to duck behind." Michael turned to the rest of the group. "We should find an entrance to that tower."

"Guys," Wes said, "Rui and I are going to help Gonzap and team Snagem in the colosseum."

"You actually want to help those crooks!" Michael said incredulously. "They'll probably double cross us."

"What would they get from double crossing us? Plus, he brought me up. I'm basically his son."

"Besides," Rui added, "thirty grunts are not enough to deal with this amount of peons and I don't have many useful aura abilities. All I can tell you is that the tower is definitely where the machine is." Growlithe closed his eyes and faced the top of the tower. He nodded in agreement. "I wish you all the best of luck. Or it may mean the end of us all."

"How about the heroes of Orre fight together in battle," Wes said. "What do you say, Michael?"

"As long as that guy," Michael pointed at Gonzap, "is here, I would rather climb that tower."

"Yeesh," Gonzap said, "I said I was sorry for taking your snag machine. It's not like I kept it." Michael ignored him.

"Hey, I've just noticed something," Richmond said. "Why haven't we been attacked by any peons yet?"

"Hey look," a peon exclaimed, "people who aren't from Cipher! Get them!" A number of peons rushed in with their pokemon.

"I can't believe we didn't see them," another peon commented.

The Shade punched Richmond's arm. "You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?"

* * *

After some intense battling, Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade, Fungin, Marcia, Michael and all of their pokemon managed to reach the entrance to the tower. The entrance was inside the colosseum building. Two glass doors set in between panels of glass behind a reception desk underneath a sign reading; 'Battle tower', were their only obstacles...other than a sight that Growlithe, Richmond, Marcia and Michael were not pleased to see.

"Well well well, what a surprise." Lovrina's voice echoed around the lobby. "How did you survive the explosions. I'm so disappointed with my workers for not making good bombs. I'll just have to kill you all here instead."

Michael stepped forward. "You and me, Lovrina. A six on six battle."

"Oh Michael." She frowned. "I'm so disappointed. Aren't you a member of my fan-club?"

Marcia stared at Michael with disbelief. Then she burst out laughing. "The Lovrina fan-club? Seriously?"

"Hey, shut up!" Michael snapped, blushing. "She invited me. And she said she wouldn't be evil any more." He then murmured, "Plus she's kinda cute."

Marcia could not control her laughter. "She's, like, twenty years older than you!"

"Actually, it's more like ten," Lovrina put in, although she was not heard. "And on the lower side of...Oh whatever."

"Humans are weird, aren't they," Fungin commented.

"Yeah," the Shade said, "if they want to mate, why don't they just force themselves on each other. Like I do."

"I do not want to know about your mating methods," Richmond said, looking bewildered.

"Okay, enough is enough," Michael said finally, "let's battle." He sent out all six of his team; Jolteon, Dragonite, Walrein, Ursaring, Houndoom and Gardevior.

"Fine then," Lovrina replied, sending out her Roserade, Beautifly, Gorebyss, Reuniclus, Absol and Porygon Z. The pokemon started fighting whilst Michael and Lovrina threw insults at each other.

Everyone else just watched. "Do you think we should just head into the tower?" Lombre asked.

"Well that would require someone to get the keys from Miss Lovrina's pockets, eh wot," Skuntank said in his usual stereotypical British accent.

"I could break the glass!" Shelgon and Steelix said in unison. Their eyes narrowed at each other.

"That would be rather messy, though," Skuntank complained.

While they were deciding (or not as the case may have been) what the best course of action was, the insult match continued. "You know, unless you can defeat me in person, no one is getting into the tower, Michael," Lovrina said. "The glass is able to withstand any pokemon attacks, but I have the key." She pulled it out of her pocket to taunt him. "However, I know you would never hit a girl."

Michael ducked under a psybeam that travelled from Reuniclus to Gardevior. He walked straight up to the desk which Lovrina stood behind. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at her face.

"Go on," Lovrina urged, "pull the trigger." Michael's arm began to shake. Then his palm opened up and the gun fell to the floor. "That's a good boy. Your whore of a mother and your retarded sister would be proud of the boy who didn't-"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because her face ended up on the receiving end of a punch. She stumbled and the key slipped to the ground. Barely having time to recover, Michael pounced upon her with fury. "DO. NOT. INSULT. MY. FAMILY."

"Hello," Skuntank said, seeing the key, "I smell opportunity." The whole group (other than Michael and his pokemon) ran over. Leaving Michael and Lovrina to their fighting, Marcia grabbed the key and unlocked the door. They charged into the next room and quickly found the stairs (the lifts were out of order).

* * *

They soon reached an area in which the stair-case ended. "Seriously?" the Shade said. "Who designed this building?"

"Evice," Lombre replied, remembering something he had overheard from his former master.

"Good point." They passed through a set of double doors and arrived in a large room with white markings on the floor. The walls on the right-hand side had a number of windows set in them, looking down on the desert far below.

In front of them stood a peon with a black helmet that looked incredibly damaged. The rest of his peon outfit was blue. A Girafarig stood beside him. It saw Growlithe and scowled.

"Oh crap," Growlithe muttered.

"Oh crap indeed, matey," Girafarig said with a grin.

"No way," Marcia said, staring at the peon. "Shouldn't you be recovering from serious wounds or something."

An eerie smile formed on the exposed part of the burnt peon's face. "Yes," there was something very wrong about his voice. "I should. I should be dying. Your little mutt should have killed me. Because now I'm a thousand times WORSE!" He shook his head violently.

"Dude, are you okay?" Marcia asked. Growlithe could feel a familiar sensation and closed his eyes.

"Yes. I am fine, _dude_. Dudedudedude. Never better. Ein said he would heal me and he did. He healed my burns. He brought the shadows safely to me. My helmet may be stuck to my head, but I am perfection. Shadows." An eye appeared in a small crack in the ruined helmet. A flash of blue that made Growlithe shiver.

"They whisper to me sometimes," the peon continued. His eye continued to scan the party. "My shadows. They tell me what I must do. _You must burn. Burn. Burn. _BURN!" He cackled malevolently.

"He's a shadow, err, human?" Growlithe said.

"Perhaps we can reason with him?" Skuntank said.

Shelgon frowned. "What is it with you and non-violence? Do you really think we can reason with that thing?"

"We can try," Marcia said stepping forward. The peon stopped laughing and his smile faded. "If you let us passed, you can burn as much as you like."

His pupil widened. "No. No. No. You cannot. The shadows forbid it. You must stay. Stay. And burn. Yes. Burn. Burnyburnyburnburn."

"Okay then, perhaps a different kind of reasoning." Marcia drew the knife she had taken from this exact same peon at Mount Battle. "Move. NOW!"

"NO! NO! NO! That is not fire! The shadows want fire to feed them. Meat to taste. Burnt meat. Burn burnt burn bert burnt." He plucked his three pokeballs from his belt. "Bring the fire to the shadows and they will reward. Yes." Instead of releasing the pokemon, he tossed the balls in random directions.

One smashed through a window and disappeared, another hit the ground and turned out to be empty. Girafarig stared at it for a moment. The third hit Lombre in the face and opened up, releasing a Golem on top of him. "Shadows," Growlithe said, his fur standing on end.

Girafarig turned to his master. "Umm, do you want me to-"

"BURN!"

"Fine." Girafarig used agility and charged at Growlithe. Growlithe rolled out of the way just in time and spat a flamethrower back. It reflected off of the light screen and would have hit Marcia had she not ducked. "Damn, if that had worked, I would have believed in karma."

He ran around the room, accurately firing psybeams that frequently hit their targets. Seeing a Breloom stationary, he grinned. "Too easy." He fired and the Breloom faded to nothing. "Whoa, I never knew I had that kind of power."

At that moment he found he had stopped running. "Huh?" He turned to see the same Breloom directly in front of him. "How? Breloom aren't renown for their speed."

"Speed is not a problem for ninjas," Fungin said. She then punched him so hard that his light screen fell and he became dazed. "Now, Growlithe!"

"Son of a bitch," Girafarig said as his senses returned, "or daughter for that matter." He looked around to try and find Fungin. Suddenly, he became engulfed with fire. Screaming, he flailed around the room until the fire finally burnt out and he fell to the floor, blackened with soot.

"No! Don't burn yourselves!" The peon called.

Growlithe only had time to turn from Girafarig before one of the windows shattered and Mandibuzz flew through. This time, she said no words, instead she screeched and grabbed Shelgon in her talons, the claws piercing her tough hide. With her in tow, Mandibuzz flew back out of the window and released her prey.

"NO!" Marcia screamed. Growlithe, Fungin, Skuntank and Tropius ran to the window. This only served to make matters worse because Golem took advantage of the situation and used shadow rush to knock the four of them over.

She turned and prepared to roll through them again, but the Shade appeared in her path, dagger drawn. "Hello, shadow," she said. "Time to die."

Golem curled into a ball and began to roll towards her. However, a huge jet of water blasted her off course and into a wall, where she got stuck. "Ha," Lombre laughed, "a bit of revenge. How did you like my hydro pump?" Golem tried to pull herself out of the wall, but was completely stuck. So, she started to glow red and exploded, leaving a huge hole in the wall, but otherwise not harming anyone.

Growlithe, Fungin, Skuntank and Tropius managed to recover when they saw the Mandibuzz fly back in through the window. She bared her talons and screeched. Suddenly, an awe-inspiring blue beam blasted right through Mandibuzz and took out a patch of the ceiling. She fell to the floor and a shadow appeared at the window.

"Did you miss me?" Shelgon said. Except instead of Shelgon, a blue dragon with red wings stood in the window (which she had to widen to get through).

Marcia gasped. "How did you evolve so quickly?"

"You didn't expect me to stay confined for long, did you?" Salamence turned to the peon. "Now it's your turn."

The peon looked shocked. He began running wildly around the room. "No! They must burn! They must burn!" He then ran straight out of Golem's hole in the wall and plummeted to the desert far below.

"What was that all about?" Richmond asked.

"Cipher's failed test subject?" the Shade suggested.

"Whatever it was, this is only a small part of Cipher's power," Growlithe said. "We must hurry." And so they hurried to the next stair-case.

* * *

"Why is this taking so long?" Evice asked. He was currently strapped to a strange box-shaped machine with a vertical semi-cylindrical shape cut out of it (in which he currently resided). The God Catalyst had been placed on a pedestal sticking out of the top. A number of mechanical arms surrounded him with numerous different attachments, including a syringe filled with murky purple liquid. He grimaced when he looked at it.

Ein sighed, put down another mug of coffee and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. "All good machines of great power take a long time to charge. Plus, I didn't have time to charge it at the lab for obvious reasons."

Across the room, Selena watched a bank of computers. "We've had far too many security alerts," she said. "These intruders beat your experiment, Ein."

"Not a surprise, he wasn't the best shadow human I've created," Ein replied, picking up his coffee and glancing at a Sudoku in the 'Orre Express' newspaper. He sighed again when he realised that there was no possible way to do it since there were two nines in the first box. "When we take over the world, the first thing we should do is put smart people in charge of Orre's media."

"Take over the world!" Evice laughed. "Are you really that gullible, Ein? That's just a pretext. Did you seriously join Cipher to take over the world?"

"No, I joined Cipher because you gave me a scientific offer of a lifetime. My brother did the same thing, but his organisation got destroyed by some kid."

"Why would we want the world?" Selena asked. "Look at us. Do we look like ruling material? We would be more corrupt than the current world leaders."

"And do shadow pokemon look like creatures to sustain a government?" Evice asked. "No, they're destroyers, killers and savages that obey the commands of the master and only the master."

"So you want to destroy the world?" Ein guessed.

"We're not insane, Ein," Evice replied.

"Then what do you want?"

"We want to evolve humanity."

"Evolve humanity?!"

"Yes. It's simple, much like pokemon evolution. By releasing shadow pokemon on the world with the command to 'kill', many will die. However, the survivors will adapt to survive and destroy the pokemon. Cipher of course will be the commanders."

"You're crazy!" Ein exclaimed, spilling his coffee on the newspaper.

"Am I Ein? You joined this organisation for science. Now we are conducting the greatest experiment on earth!" He tried to raise his arms for effect, but they were strapped down.

"Then what is this? Giving you Arceus' power. Why do we need this?"

"Ah, this is another one of my experiments. If I can channel this power, I can-"

"Guys," Selena said in an urgent voice, "hate to break the chat, but Snagem are kicking our peons backsides extremely well. They are overwhelming us."

"What exactly can we do?" Evice asked, naturally helpless.

"Ein, you are going to have to release 'it'."

Ein's eyes widened. "You mean XD200?"

"200?" Evice said. "I didn't know there were that many."

"There aren't. I just needed a cool sounding number and 001 and 100 were taken." He adjusted his glasses. "Very well, I shall go and release it." He walked through a hole in the wall of the battle tower control room and onto his ship's metal gangplank.

* * *

Michael's Houndoom spat a flamethrower at Lovrina's Roserade. The attack would have been effective had Gorebyss not floated into the path of the attack with an aqua veil surrounding it. Steam hissed as the water evaporated. Gorebyss twisted it's head and returned fire with a hydro pump.

Bounding out of the way of the oncoming water jet, Houndoom unleashed a dark pulse, sending black energy straight towards Gorebyss. It was a direct hit.

Furious that it had been hit, Gorebyss waved it's body around a bit to summon rain to the battle. Houndoom yelped as droplets began to hit it on the head. Gorebyss took the opportunity to fire another hydro pump whilst it was distracted.

Roserade meanwhile, made her way towards Walrein who would undoubtedly have an advantage in the rain. She used the rain to her own advantage by launching weather balls at the unsuspecting Walrein who was currently dealing with Beautifly.

It whined as the balls collided with it's back, sending an ice beam off course and frosting up some of the glass in the room. It turned to face Roserade with a face full of fury. The rain in the air started to turn to snow and fell at a more intense rate. Roserade shivered and tried to see in front of herself when suddenly, Walrein bounded through the snow towards her.

It would have flattened her had a sudden discharge of electricity not collided with Walrein. The snows cleared and Porygon Z floated in front of her. "Thanks, 'zed'," Roserade said, using her nickname for it. Porygon Z ignored her. She looked at the Walrein stretched out on it's stomach in front of her. _Now to see if it really is knocked out,_ she thought, advancing.

Ursaring and Absol exchanged a frenzy of slashes at high speeds. However, it was clear to see from the number of cuts on each of them that the lumbering bear was no match for the disaster pokemon. Dragonite had had a good grasp on Porygon Z until Gorebyss finished with Houndoom, allowing it to fire ice beams at the dragon.

The rains had made it fairly easy for Jolteon to conduct electricity, instantly knocking Beautifly out. However, this elicited a response from Roserade, putting Jolteon against an opponent she was not suited for. Meanwhile, Gardevoir and Reunclus had an on-going mind duel which neither side showed signs of losing.

"Hey, baby," Reuniclus said, "why don't you just lower your barriers and let me enter you?"

Gardevoir scowled and in a deep voice replied, "Enter me? I'm a man. You're a clump of cells. If anyone's entering anyone, it's me entering you."

Reuniclus gaped, deciding not to say anything else and just focus on the battle.

Lovrina knocked Michael to the floor once again. "You are so weak Michael." She punched him several times in the face. "I would have expected better from a hero who traveled all over Orre."

Michael shoved her off him and rose once more, trying to knock her into the desk. "I may be weak, but I'm determined. And determination continues even after physical strength wears off."

"Maybe," Lovrina said, allowing herself to lose ground so she could get nearer to the desk, "but you're not the only determined one here. I want to see the results of what happens at Realgam tower today and no one will prevent me. Not you, not that ginger slut, not even that omnipotent, dumb, fire-breathing mutt."

Once she could feel the desk against the back of her legs, she grabbed Michael and spun, so that he was closer to the desk. Then she knocked him into it. He hit the desk with a thud and then slipped to the floor. Lovrina bent down to hit him again, when she noticed the gun on the ground. She snatched it up and moved back to allow Michael to rise.

He had his back to her once he was up, so Lovrina wasted no time and flicked the safety off. She put the barrel of the gun against his head and said, "This time it's over, kid."

* * *

Wes was having the time of his life. Every peon that came close, he blasted with his gun. Every shadow pokemon ended up on the receiving end of the snag machine. Later, it would cause a vast amount of effort, picking up each and every pokeball, but Wes was not concerned about the future.

A shadow Donphan charged towards him, only to be swept to the ground by Espeon and Umbreon. Wes casually dropped a snag ball from his snag machine and the Donphan was sucked in. One, two, three, click. "This is two easy," Wes said, shooting a peon that tried to sneak up behind him. Alongside team Snagem, they had almost destroyed Cipher with surprisingly little casualty.

He was having the time of his life until he heard Rui shout; "Wes!" It was urgent. Wes charged across the battlefield, his pokemon following him the whole way.

Rui was on her knees, almost in tears. Wes ran over, grabbed her hands and ordered their pokemon to defend them. "What's wrong?" Wes said, fearfully. Rui had been through a lot in her life. It was unlike her to ever be like this.

"Something terrible is coming," she whispered. "Something completely against nature."

Wes took her in his arms and saw a nearby peon looking at them. "Girls are weak," he said with a grin. "Nobody touched her and yet she still fell to floor."

Glaring at him, Wes opened his mouth to retort when the peon became engulfed in a purple fire. He looked up at the battle tower where it had come from. The hull of the large ship at the top of the tower had opened up and a giant purple bird was diving down towards the colosseum.

"No way," Wes gasped as the bird landed, sending tremors throughout the tower. It raised it's head and roared deeply. Rui began to shiver. Now she really was crying.

Wes opened his PDA and tried to analyse the creature. _Unknown target. Please target a pokemon. _However, it was too similar for it not to be. It could not be, yet here it was. Wes was staring at XD200—Shadow Ho oh.


	22. A Captain and a Curse

**AN: I feel as though some of the battles in this chapter are cut a bit short.**

* * *

Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade, Fungin, Marcia and her pokemon faced another door. "This was entirely your fault, Salamence," Lombre said. "If you weren't so big, the stair-case would not have collapsed."

"It's not my fault," Salamence argued. "I didn't design this building."

"I don't care whose fault it was," Marcia said, sighing, "we should focus on the task in hand."

When they passed through the doors, however, they found a slightly strange man, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, staring at the door. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "Finally, I can have my vengeance!"

"Oh Arceus," Salamence sighed, "another crazy guy."

"Vengeance?" Marcia queried. "What do you mean by vengeance?"

"Vengeance against YOU!" he said.

"What have I done to you? I've never met you."

The man grinned slightly. "Oh but you have. You've done more damage to me by never meeting me."

"I think you might be right, Salamence," Richmond said, "this guy is bonkers."

"You killed my sister," the man said, now on the verge of tears, "the lovely Venus." An eerie purple light shone through the windows briefly.

Marcia and Tropius cringed. "Ah, yeah, sorry about that."

"Sorry!" he bellowed. "Sorry! 'Sorry' never helped anyone. She burnt in lava. Do you know how painful that is?" He reached for a pokeball on his belt. "I, Merton shall avenge my beautiful sister. Now you will feel what it is like to burn to death!" He pressed the button on his pokeball. "Entei, kill them all!"

In a burst of light, Entei appeared. Only, it was coloured purple with red eyes. Growlithe suddenly felt incredibly sick. It roared and lunged at the heroes. They only just managed to dodge out of the way. Merton laughed. "Give it some fire!"

Purple flames shot through the air and formed a star shape where they collided with a wall. Entei roared and chased after it's foes.

The Shade snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

"What's 'it'?" Fungin asked, just barely avoiding another blast of flame.

"Shadow pokemon obey orders from their master. If we kill the master, the pokemon will surely stop."

"I'm not s-" Fungin began before the Shade disappeared.

"Muhahaha!" Merton laughed. "Muhahahurrr..." He shivered, blood trickling out of his mouth, then collapsed. The Shade stood behind him, her knife covered in blood.

However, Entei roared and charged once more. Salamence managed to grab Entei, bringing it to a grinding halt, but she was straining. "Well, that went well," Fungin said to the Shade.

Steelix joined Salamence to double the strength. They used a multitude of attacks which seemed to have little effect on the massive dog. "Run! Now!" Salamence yelled.

Marcia and her party were on one side of the battle, Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade and Fungin on the other. "We'll find another way around," Marcia shouted to Growlithe, "Get away from that thing at all costs." She and her party disappeared back down the stair-case, sprinting.

The Shade ran to a door a few metres down the hallway. They all sprinted through and Fungin barred it with a long piece of metal.

Meanwhile, Entei roared fiercely and bowled it's two foes over, making it's way towards the stairs. As soon as they recovered, Salamence and Steelix gave chase.

* * *

Mewtwo's chamber was a large rectangle. A number of rock crystals poked out of the walls and a stream flowed through the centre of the room. There was only one visible entrance which now had a number of Team Rocket members entering.

_Oh Arceus, not these guys again,_ Mewtwo thought as he watched them with piercing purple eyes. He was displeased to see that Giovanni was leading them. However, he had expected it. Sometimes he received visions of a potential future. Whether he wanted it or not, Mewtwo knew this encounter would be necessary.

"Mewtwo!" Mewtwo was surprised to see that Giovanni was not talking. Instead, a black-haired man with a frown on his face stepped forward. Behind his anger, Mewtwo could see the nervousness on the man's face.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of such a greeting?" Mewtwo asked, using his vast knowledge of the human languages.

"My name is Tabitha," the man said. "You killed my sister. It is time I enacted my vengeance."

"Your sister?" Mewtwo said, puzzled. He pondered through his memories for a moment before answering. "Who?"

"You don't remember her!" Tabitha said, exasperated.

"No, I really don't. Are you sure you don't have the wrong guy? I have a rather annoying sibling."

"No, it was definitely you. " He paused. "You are so evil, you don't even remember all of your kills."

_He's got me there,_ Mewtwo thought. He could only remember a small proportion of the faces he had killed. "And do you remember everything you've killed."

Tabitha stopped for a moment. "I've never killed anyone."

"Ha!" Mewtwo could not help, but laugh. "You work for Team Rocket, yet you've never killed. A blatant lie if I've ever heard one."

Tabitha ignored him. "Today, Mewtwo, the one responsible for my sister's death shall be brought to justice!"

"Remember, an eye for an eye mak-" Mewtwo began before something shot towards his head. _A Golbat? You'll have to try harder than that Tabby._

* * *

As soon as Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade and Fungin thought the door was secure, they realised that they were not. In front of them stood an old man with a white beard and a scar over his right eye. He wore heavy silver armour and two black cutlasses. He had seven pokeballs on his belt and two of them made Growlithe shudder; one more than the other.

"That's Odan," the Shade commented. "As far as I'm aware, he took over the battle of Agate when Stephanie got cowardly."

"Did she run away?" Growlithe queried.

"Not until the end of the battle. I had reports that the frigate flew in the opposite direction to the rest of the fleet. The only sensible explanation is that she ran away in her ship."

"Well, well, well," Odan said, examining each of them, "I have to give the other guards credit. They managed to kill more of you than I expected. Looks like I owe Ein fifty pokedollars."

As he continued to ramble, Richmond nudged the Shade. "Do you think you could do the same thing you did to Merton?"

"Have you seen his armour Richmond!?" the Shade replied incredulously. "It looks almost impenetrable!"

"It was just a suggestion, yeesh."

Odan reached the end of his ramble. "You've had your fun, but it's all over now. I will stop you." He moved his hand to his pokeballs and pressed the buttons on six of them, careful not to press the seventh one. "Defeat them all!" he shouted.

Out came an Excadrill, a Chatot, a Scyther, a Bisharp, a Garchomp and, most fearsome of all, a Kabutops. The latter took no time to plan an attack and simply rushed out, slamming into Growlithe. The others took that as a sign and attacked, splitting up the four fighters.

The Chatot, Pally, chose Richmond as his target. He yelled swear words at the top of his voice that, due to the space they had, affected all of the fighters as well as Odan himself. Richmond retaliated by launching poison stings from his back towards the foul mouthed bird. He squawked as they made contact and shuddered. He slowed down and clumsy landing. Richmond cheered until he was punched in the back of the head by a rather large arm.

"You may have poisoned Pally," he said with a grin, "but your tricks won't work on me."

"Ah," Richmond replied, rubbing the back of his head, "you must be Jonny. Never separated from your noisy friend. My trick of poisoning may not work, but that's not the only trick I know." He sprayed sand into Jonny's face.

"Gah!" the Excadrill cried, wiping sand from his eyes. He then realised that Richmond was gone. "You should know something, Sandslash, Excadrill rely on more than sight." He stomped the ground with a large foot. The resulting earthquake attack shot towards the very place Richmond was digging.

He popped out of the ground with a number of wounds, but that still did not stop him from attacking Jonny.

Fungin and Scyther locked eyes. They exchanged no words, but made up for that by exchanging blows. Scyther made the most of her type advantage and continually unleashed aerial aces. Fungin however, had no problem in avoiding each and every attack despite their speed. Unfortunately, her own attacks were doing very little to the mantis.

The Shade, meanwhile was forced into a two on one battle. "We're not letting you get the better of us," the Bisharp said. "You are notorious for your skills with stealth, but you can't hide in plain sight."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," the Shade said, dodging a slash, then back-flipping over Garchomp as he used dragon rush.

"Arr," he exclaimed, "Oi don't get beaten by no wenches!" He turned and lashed out with a dual chop.

"Really, Billy?" the Shade said, revealing the Garchomp's name whilst dodging his attack. "Because I have reliable information that you were beaten by the Resistance's head aura guardian who just so happened to be female." She launched a shadow ball at him which curved around him and struck him in the back. "Then again, when you say 'wenches', you may be referring to a particular type of woman."

"Gah!" Billy said as he picked himself off of the ground. "Don't get cocky."

It was then that the Shade disappeared. The Bisharp, who had been sneaking up behind her, glanced around, confused. Then she was struck with a faint attack, knocking her to the ground. "Sorry, Helena," the Shade said, pinning her down with one foot around the neck, "but that trick doesn't work on me."

"How do you know our names?" Helena grunted, as she tried to get up.

The Shade stood firm. "When you have a good number of spies in your power, you'd be surprised what you'd learn."

"For Arceus' sake, where the hell is Billy?"

The Shade glanced over at the Garchomp who was surrounded by her substitute clones. "It appears he's just a touch busy at the moment."

"Which one of ye's the bloody real one!" he yelled in frustration.

_This is too easy,_ she thought, chuckling to herself.

Growlithe was covered in cuts. Kabutops had raked his body and his own attacks were doing little to the shadow pokemon. _And this is the less dangerous of Odan's two shadow pokemon. _Growlithe glanced back at Odan who stood smugly as the battle progressed. Whatever was in his last pokeball was going to be powerful.

It was by pure coincidence that Kabutops struck the relic fragment around Growlithe's neck. When it did, it stopped attacking and screeched.

Growlithe was confused. Looking down at his relic fragment with closed eyes, then at the Kabutops, he got his answers. Unsurprisingly, it was covered in a purple aura, however, a trail of green aura stretched from the fragment to Kabutops and was beginning to work it's way up it's arm.

_Purification! _Growlithe took no time to rush towards the Kabutops, now writhing in pain, and placed the relic fragment on it's forehead. The resulting green light-show brought the other battles to a halt.

* * *

A peon near the top of the battle tower chuckled. She stood in a room devoid of anything other than a set of windows. Team Cipher had always thought it best to keep at least one peon closer to the end of their bases than their admins. Why this was so was beyond the peon, but she did not care one bit.

_Promotion is just one step away,_ she thought. _Just as soon as those fools arrive. How do so many people keep losing to a news-reporter and a Growlithe?_

She turned to the windows and screamed when she saw a face passing through one of them. "Oh, it's just a Shedinja," she assured herself, regaining composure. "Go away! Shoo!" She waved her hand at it, but it ignored her and moved closer.

"What are you doing?" she said taking a few steps back. "Are you Marty's? Is this his idea of a prank?" The Shedinja did not respond (although it might have, but she could not understand it).

Then, she found she had her back to the wall. _Did I just see it smile?_ Finally, a claw shot out and pierced her neck.

* * *

It might have been the end for Michael were it not for his idea to teach his Dragonite thunderbolt via TM. Back then it had seemed like a complete waste of time at Realgam game corner, but now it saved his life.

Angry that Gorebyss had discovered it's one rather potent weakness, Dragonite decided to retaliate with one of Gorebyss's own weaknesses. The thunderbolt that Dragonite fired was admittedly weak compared to Jolteon's, but it was enough to harm the pink eel.

Gorebyss was no happier with Dragonite than Dragonite was with it. It decided to activate it's emergency plan. The resulting flood put Gorebyss in it's own element, but the rest of the people and pokemon in the room were taken by surprise.

Lovrina dropped the pistol, trying to swim instead. Michael took the opportunity to attack her in the water (being the better swimmer).

However, the water quickly dissipated when Lovrina managed to break free from Michael and recall her pokemon. Dragonite, Jolteon and Gardevoir glanced about (the rest of Michael's pokemon being knocked out) and then turned to glare at Lovrina.

Lovrina looked about for the gun, but saw that Michael had scooped it up. "You've lost Lovrina," he said with triumph, "since you withdrew all of your pokemon, I presume that you are surrendering."

"Not by a long shot," she replied, pulling one last pokeball off her belt. "No more messing about with battles. Instead you will feel the pain of-"

Suddenly, a human and three pokemon collided with her and she fell to the floor. Her pokeball flew up into the air. As they continued on past her, Michael and his pokemon took a few steps back . "Son of a bitch," she groaned.

Then she heard a snarling noise. Looking up, she saw Entei looking down upon her, it's paws preventing her from escaping. Then there was a burst of light as her pokeball rolled into a wall and Raikou wandered towards her, intrigued by what the all fuss was. _Could this day get any worse, _she thought as she watched the two dogs fearfully.

* * *

As the light faded, Kabutops stepped forward—this time not snarling. "C-c-captain?" Jonny said as he stared.

Odan fumed as he saw what had happened. _So the relic stone wasn't quite as decimated as I thought._ "This changes nothing!" he said with fury. "I am Captain Slash. You are still my pokemon and you will continue to fight.

"Oi found the real one!" Billy exclaimed as he struck out at the last clone of the Shade. Naturally, it faded.

Pally opened his eyes, dazed from the poison. "Pally saw the light. Is Pally in heaven?" he then looked about the room and sighed. "Aww."

The rest of Odan's pokemon stared at Kabutops, then at Odan, except for Kabutops, who kept her gaze firmly on Odan. "Fight already!" he yelled.

"Captain?" Helena asked.

"Yes?" Kabutops replied, breaking her gaze with Odan.

"Are you back captain?" This time it was the Scyther talking.

"Oh, I'm back, Sally."

"Does this mean we can get our revenge on the lucky fool?" Billy asked.

"Pally wants his left butt-cheek!" Pally yelled.

Kabutops turned back to Odan. "Yes it is time for vengeance, my crew. Pally, tell him this; 'I am Captain Slash and I will destroy you and all those who try to defend you.'"

Pally relayed the information and added; "And Pally gets your left butt-cheek!"

Odan stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Do you really think you can destroy me? It seems I have completely lost your loyalty, but that can be sorted out with a bit of the old shadow treatment. First, however, I still have one more pokemon." He pulled the pokeball off of his belt. "Suicune! Kill the rebels!" Then he released the final legendary dog.

Suicune went after Growlithe first. Instantly recognising it as the most dangerous of the entire group. Growlithe may have felt refreshed and recuperated after being bathed in the purification aura, but still did not feel up to taking on a purple shadow dog. Suicune fired a shadow hydro pump at him which would have inflicted major damage had Captain Slash not intercepted it.

"Run, Growlithe!" She yelled as the hydro pump collided. "You and your friends. I have a feeling you are more important than you look. Consider this a repayment to the debt of you saving me."

"Aren't you worried about your own life?!" Growlithe exclaimed.

Slash grunted as the hydro pump continued to collide with her. "I've lived for hundreds of years and faced worse than this. Why should I be concerned?"

As they made for the exit, the hydro pump froze and Suicune got stuck. Slash's crew took the opportunity to attack. Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade and Fungin saw that Odan had already fled. Slash noticed this too and said between slashes, "If you find that impostor give him a good beating, but bring him to me alive. I want to draw out his death for as long as possible."

* * *

A blast of purple fire shot out of Ho-oh's mouth, roasting a Snagem grunt who just so happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Agrev charged towards Ho-oh, holding a grenade.

He pulled the pin out and yelled, "Take this you over-sized bird!" Ho-oh snatched him up with it's beak and he dropped the grenade. "Tell my wife to worship me in death!" he screamed as the bird crushed him in it's jaws, then ate the pieces.

Sadly, another grunt had been standing too close to the grenade when it exploded, so his remains flew right over to where Wes was standing. "Yeesh!" Wes exclaimed. He had left Rui guarded by Hydreigon until she felt better.

His pokemon were doing no visible damage to the giant bird, but he had an idea of how to take it down. "Let's see how you deal with this, Ho-oh," he said as he loaded up an ultra ball into his snag machine.

Aiming carefully, Wes launched the ball directly at Ho-oh's head. The ball shot forth at lightning speed, yet seemed to disintegrate upon contact. "Dammit!" Wes cursed. He loaded another ball and fired. Then another. But none seemed to do anything to Ho-oh. Instead, it just kept killing more of Snagem's grunts and pokemon.

Then Wes fingered something in his rucksack that he had not realised was still there. He traced the outline of the letter 'M' on the pokeball. Then he stuck it in the Snag machine and fired.

* * *

The next room that Growlithe, Richmond, the Shade and Fungin entered was cold. The windows had all been shattered and the dead body of a peon lay on the ground. "What the hell!" Growlithe exclaimed.

"We should ignore it and keep going," the Shade said with a grim face. "We must be near the top and I don't like the feel of this room."

Once the four had reached the centre of the room, a large force-field split through the room, separating Growlithe and the Shade from Richmond and Fungin. The Shade charged at the force-field, trying to break it, but only got repelled.

"We'll find another way around," Fungin said calmly. "We'll meet you as soon as we can." The two of them left the room.

"It must just be a trap set by Cipher," the Shade said, rationalising. "Let's just keep going."

"Oh, you won't keep going."

"Who said that!?" the Shade said, jumping.

"Only me," a Shedinja said, fading into sight, right in front of Growlithe who yelped and fled several paces backward.

"Okay, who the hell are you?" the Shade asked, angrily. "Are you trying to help us by killing that peon?"

"Help you?" Shedinja replied. "Far from it. I want you dead."

Growlithe rolled his eyes. "Great, another vengeance seeker. Why do you want us dead?"

"Well, I don't really care whether the Kecleon dies or not. She will die now or later. That isn't important. Right now, I need to get my revenge for what you did to me in Pyrite, Growlithe."

"What I did in Pyrite?" Growlithe muttered to himself. Then he had an epiphany. "Wait! You're that Nincada I beat by flooding your tunnels with fire."

Shedinja growled. "Correct. You humiliated me in front of a crowd. My master tells me I am destined for great things, but I still have time to deal with you."

"This is what I think of your bullshit!" the Shade yelled as she materialised behind Shedinja and unleashed a faint attack.

Shedinja did not flinch as the Shade hit her shell and cried out in pain. "What the HELL! Shedinja can't take any sort of attack that they are weak to."

"Correct," Shedinja said, a smile forming on her face, "but I am no mortal Shedinja. I have transcended my mortal form and my shell is part of my immortal form. I can choose it's strength and nothing can break through it."

"What!"

"And now you have chosen death." Shedinja struck out, but the Shade was already gone.

"Growlithe, we need to find a way to defeat that thing!" the Shade said. "Wait, where did it go?"

"Peekaboo!" Shedinja said as she materialised behind the Shade and slashed her in the back. Then she unleashed waves of fury swipes until she sensed a flame fly towards her.

Growlithe's flamethrower missed by inches as Shedinja managed to fly out of the way. "Ha! I don't even need my shell to avoid that one!" She turned from the bloody body of the Shade to Growlithe. "Perhaps I should kill you the way I should have in Pyrite." She then disappeared, burying a hole right through the floor.

However, Growlithe was ready and the moment the hole appeared under him, he spat a heat wave down it. Flames erupted from the other hole and Growlithe let out a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to go to check on the Shade, he felt a searing pain in his back. Blood poured from an open wound to the floor and Growlithe would have gotten worse if he had not have run out of the way.

"No more playing games, Growlithe," Shedinja said as a shadow ball formed in front of her face.

Before she could fire it, she felt a blade collide with her shell. "You again?" she said, staring directly at the Shade. "This time I'll see you go down for good." She struck the Shade again and again. She soon realised that she was really enjoying this. However, this turned out to be her fatal flaw.

The Shade fell to the floor once more. "Time to die foolish Kecleon," Shedinja said. Then she felt the flames lick her shell. "Oh fuc-!" But she fell silent before she could finish her curse. Her shell blackened and disintegrated into ashes. Then the ashes were picked up by a breeze and scattered through the open window. The force-field fell.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Growlithe said, not knowing where he had heard that before. Then he ran over to the Shade. "Are you okay?"

"I don't matter," the Shade groaned. "You must go on."

"I'm not leaving you to die."

"I won't die." She got up slowly and put a hand on Growlithe's wound. For a moment, he flinched, then the wound felt soothed.

"Where did you produce that from?" Growlithe asked, trying to get a good view of the herb on his back.

The Shade removed it, seeing the wound had healed and put it on one of her own gashes. "A ninja has a lot of hiding places. You must go now Growlithe. I'll be fine. Good luck. Make sure you win."

"I will," Growlithe replied, making his way to the exit of the room and towards the final flight of stairs.

* * *

Tabitha watched Mewtwo with indifference as both his Golbat and Camerupt were knocked out. "Okay then, Tabitha," Mewtwo said casually, "let's see that last pokemon." He gestured to the third pokeball on Tabitha's belt.

Brushing the master ball in his pocket and his gun on the way, Tabitha reached for his final pokeball. "Psychic types don't do well in the dark, Mewtwo," he said, a slight grin forming on his face. "Okay Mightyena, do what you can!"

Mightyena burst out of the pokeball and bared her fangs at Mewtwo. She jumped up and shot through the air to bite him. Mewtwo simply swatted the hound out of the way and formed an aura sphere.

The sphere collided with Mightyena, making her yelp, but she still managed to recover. This time, it would not simply be a one hit KO.

As the two pokemon battled it out, Looker smiled. Everything was going to plan and Tabitha was sticking perfectly to plan. Through his ear-piece, he heard someone whisper, "We're in position. Give us the signal when ready." Looker prayed that no other Team Rocket members decided to whistle 'Crazy Little Thing Called Luvdisc' by Nido-queen before he did.

Giovanni watched the battle with a smile that was slowly turning into a frown. At first, the battle had seemed like a good way to let Tabitha have his revenge, but it was going so badly that it was depressing. Furthermore, he refused to return any of his pokemon even after they fainted. He hoped to Arceus that Tabitha would stick to the plan.

Once Mightyena fainted, Tabitha pulled the master ball out of his pocket. Mewtwo flinched. He knew the balls were designed to resist all pokemon abilities—even telekinesis. However, he need not have worried.

Tabitha threw the master ball at a wall, where it shattered. Looker, Giovanni and the rest of team Rocket gasped. "Do whatever the hell you want with me, Mewtwo." he said. "But first, let me have my vengeance."

He pulled out his gun and Mewtwo almost laughed. Behind him, Giovanni seemed surprisingly unconcerned, considering a piece of technology that was not available in any shops, had just been destroyed. _He must have another one,_ he thought.

However, before he could concern himself with planning to escape that potential, Tabitha spun around and aimed his gun at Giovanni. "You killed my sister! You will die now!"

* * *

Crystal watched through the crack in the wall of a ruined building. She waited there with Eni and Morgan. _Just how many are still alive?_ she thought. Orion's screams still haunted her.

They had managed to escape the same way everyone else had. Running. Everyone who fell behind died. Everyone who could not find good hiding places died. And now, those in good hiding places were being hunted down and killed.

Her concerns lay heavily on escaping. It only a matter of time before they were discovered. Their hiding place was good, but they were close to the entrance where Dakim had entered. Furthermore, Morgan's tail flame, no matter how well he hid it, gave the building a slight glow.

Just as she was about to suggest an escape plan to the others, Crystal heard an explosion, followed by the noise of loud, marching footsteps. _Is this a trap set up by Cipher? _She gazed out of the crack once again and saw the streets were flooded with fighting. Pokemon were destroying peons and even the sinister XD pokemon.

Then, she saw three blurs shoot down the street. One brown, one green, but most importantly, one blue. There was no doubt about it. Terrakion and Virizion had returned with Keldeo. And they had brought an army.

* * *

The master ball collided with Ho-oh's head. It screeched as the ball passed right through the layers of shadow aura. The ball was damaged by the aura, but still managed to suck Ho-oh in.

"YES!" Wes exclaimed. "Take that you bloody great beast!" The ball shook three times-as any normal ball would-then seemed to go still. However, it made no clicking noise like any other pokeball might to confirm a successful capture. Wes just presumed that this was a design feature of the master ball. Who would conformation that they have caught something in a ball that does so without fail.

It was when the ball started to shake again, this time more violently, that Wes realised the truth. He only just managed to dive out of the way as the ball erupted with a purple flame and Ho-oh appeared, angrier than ever. It's purple body now had a red tint to it and it stared directly into Wes' eyes.

This time, the purple flames managed to strike Wes as he tried to get out of the way. He looked at his left arm to find it thoroughly burnt and the snag machine completely obliterated. It was only then that he felt the pain. He screamed like mad and his other senses seemed to dull.

It was a miracle that he was even able to see Ho-oh with his blurry vision (or stand up with his pain). Ho-oh's head shoot towards him, sharp beak in front. He scrunched his eyes up and waited for the end...only it never came.

He opened his eyes to see Rui standing right in front of him, engulfed in a blue light. Wes was now on the ground, but he could see she was holding Ho-oh's head in her hands. The blue light traveled up Ho-oh's beak and engulfed it's head.

Suddenly, Ho-oh jerked out of Rui's hands, screeching louder and with more pain than before. It flew high into the sky and let out one last scream, this one the loudest. Then, purple fire engulfed it's body until all of the purple feathers were gone and Ho-oh's blacked carcass fell to the stadium floor.

"Wh-what happened?" Wes managed to ask, still feeling the searing pain.

Rui turned to him slowly. The blue aura still covered her. "They took all feeling from her. I gave it back to her with an aura technique. The pain of being engulfed with that much shadow...She couldn't take it. She killed herself."

"But, h-how did you u-use th-that thing?" Wes queried. "You never t-told me you kn-knew such skills."

"I didn't know it," Rui said solemnly, "I'm sorry Wes."

"Sorry for wh-?" Then Wes saw the gaping wound in her stomach. All sense came back to him. "NO! NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T DIE!"

"Everyone dies, Wes," she whispered. "A guardian unlocks their full potential moments before they die." She took a step forward and fell. Wes caught her and held her in his arms, ignoring the pain of his left one.

"My role here is ending," she continued. "I have fulfilled my duty, just as I must. Now I will find my way to the safety of the mother's hold. But first, I must do one last thing."

Wes gazed at her with tears in his eyes. She fell limp and the last thing he remembered was a blue light.

* * *

**AN: I wanted as much as possible to round up all of the side plots so that next chapter would be primarily focused on Growlithe. There are a few small things left, but I've got everything I wanted to be finished to be finished. Just two chapters left!**


	23. Black Heart

**AN: Finally, we reach the climax.**

* * *

Giovanni stared at the gun unflinching. "This would be a big mistake, Tabitha," he said, "I did not kill your sister. That thing did."

Glancing back for a second, Tabitha replied, "Did he? Maybe he did physically, but you were the creator. Your malice was the very thing that destroyed my sister."

"It was not meant to happen." Giovanni picked his words carefully. "I tried to keep Mewtwo locked up. If it wasn't for some betrayers, he would still be in my possession and your sister would still be alive." _Only half a lie._

"No more bullshit, Giovanni," Tabitha said, flicking the safety off, "it is time the debt was paid."

Before he could pull the trigger, he collapsed to the ground. Mewtwo stood behind him with his three-fingered hand outstretched. "I have heard enough," he said. "I am leaving and I shall take Tabitha with me so he can learn to become someone better."

"Hmm?" Giovanni mused. "Look around you Mewtwo. There are no exits. I shall be taking you with me." He pulled the master ball out from his pocket.

"Giovanni, have you not noticed something? The Mewtwo you created was full of malice. He would not have 'played battle' with anyone. I am not the one you are searching for."

Giovanni gaped. Regaining composure, he asked, "How do I know you're not lying?"

Mewtwo smiled. A purple ball materialised in his hand and he threw it at Giovanni. After catching it, he stared intently at it. "A soul ball?" he asked, his hair standing on end.

"Whatever you wish to call it. Take it and leave. I have to use this cave from time to time and I don't want the likes of you hanging around it." With that, Mewtwo levitated Tabitha and his pokemon into the air. The back wall of the cave opened up and he wandered through, the four bodies following behind him.

As the wall closed, Giovanni ran towards it, but it had completely sealed by the time he reached it. He traced the cracks on it with his hands, looking for a secret switch or hinge.

For several minutes, he searched crazily for some sort of access. However, he was snapped back to reality when he heard someone whistling a song that he had heard before, loudly. He turned around and wandered over to the group to see that it was Watcher.

"What's with the sudden whistling, Watcher?" he asked with a hint of anger.

A smile formed on Watcher's face and he stopped whistling. "For a long time now, you've thought I was your faithful ally, but that is not true. This is who I really am!" He pulled the beard off of his face to reveal a cleanly shaven chin.

"I'm sorry," Giovanni replied, confused, "who are you?"

"I am Looker!"

Giovanni stared at him, puzzled. The rest of Team Rocket did the same. "Nobody knows who you are you idiot!" Petrel said.

"Of the international police!" Looker said. At that moment, a number of police officers ran into the cave with guns.

Giovanni sent out his Rhydon. Clambering onto it, he yelled, "Dig!" The two of them disappeared down a hole and evaded police capture.

* * *

After running up one last flight of stairs, Growlithe entered another corridor. Unlike the others in the battle tower, this one had only one door. It waited ominously at the end of the corridor. However, standing in front of the door was a dark-haired woman wearing a black suit. She looked up with surprise as Growlithe walked down the corridor.

Once he was no more than ten feet from the door, she laughed. "Really? How did you manage to get so far when your companions failed? You're rather lucky for one Growlithe, but your luck has finally run out."

She scanned his body, looking for the source of power. When she saw the neck, she gasped. "The relic fragment? So Odan didn't destroy it after all. Well, no harm done. We can use it for testing purposes later. Once you are added to our ranks of shadow pokemon."

Growlithe growled as was his namesake. "Really, Growlithe?" she said with confidence. "You may have managed to get this far with the help of your friends, but I am prepared to defeat you once and for all." She pulled one pokeball off of her belt. "My peons and admins may have failed, but I can defeat you with one pokemon. It's not even a shadow pokemon."

She pressed the button on the pokeball and a Gyarados burst forth, floating in the air. Growlithe knew little about the pokemon, but he instantly recognised it as a water type. "Gyarados," Selena yelled, "show our little friend the true power of pokemon!"

Gyarados complied. It swung it's tail in a wide arc that Growlithe had to jump back to avoid. It repeated the move again, only this time, it moved so that it's head was facing Growlithe and it's body curved around him.

He managed to jump over the tail, only to be blasted by a hydro pump. The water temporarily stunned him, allowing Gyarados to sweep it's tail once more and knock Growlithe into a wall. He yelped in pain and sunk to the floor.

It took him a few seconds to realise that water was flowing, covering him at an alarming rate. He was surprised to see it only forming in a concentrated pool around him, as if he was in a tank. When he tried to flail about, Gyarados pinned him down with it's tail. All Growlithe could do was panic as the water slowly rose up over his body.

Selena chuckled. "See, Growlithe, without your friends, you are nothing. You are powerless. We know you have purified pokemon. I watched it happen to Odan's Kabutops. If you are such a great aura guardian, summon aura to save yourself." She waited for ten seconds. "Nothing? What a shame."

Growlithe's neck was now underwater. In a few moments, he would be entirely submerged. He did not know how long he could hold his breath for, but he knew he would not last long. "Now you are seconds away from the grim death of drowning," Selena continued. "I wonder how my daughter felt seconds before you killed her."

_Daughter? _Growlithe thought. His head was now half submerged and he took a large gulp of air in, in preparation.

"In case you're confused, your precious Resistance mercilessly killed my innocent daughter by destroying her ship in the battle of Agate." Selena now seemed to have a look of anguish on her face. "She piloted the frigate straight to her doom that day."

Suddenly, the pieces fell together. He was entirely submerged now, but Growlithe remembered something that the Shade had told him earlier that day; _"The only sensible explanation is that she ran away in her ship."_ Growlithe opened his mouth to speak, but he was underwater. His breath escaped and he began to struggle. In his last moments, he yelled in his thoughts; _YOUR DAUGHTER IS STILL ALIVE!_

Selena looked at him, stunned. "Release him, Gyarados!" she cried. "NOW!" The water receded and Growlithe looked up at Selena groggily. "How did you...?"

Growlithe was not entirely sure how he managed to psychically link with Selena, but he had just done exactly that. He could feel the touch of her mind. He could sense the purple aura that clouded her—not a shadow human, but evil enough. "Your daughter is still alive," he repeated.

"What do you mean?!" she replied incredulously. "I have a reliable source that says she is dead." Hope filled her mind.

"The Resistance have her," Growlithe lied. He needed to get Selena to support him and he could think of no other way. "If Evice manages to be loosed upon the world, she dies."

"You're bluffing!" Selena said with doubt in her voice. "She's dead."

"She survived the crash. We found her and took her hostage."

"If she is, Cipher will find her in the Under when they destroy the Resistance."

Growlithe laughed. "You really think our only base is the Under. We have a much better hidden place that serves as our true base." Growlithe knew not whether the Resistance had any other bases.

Selena was still in doubt, but she knew she had no choice. She returned Gyarados and led the way through the door and into the control room of the battle tower.

* * *

Whilst Growlithe confronted Selena in the corridor, Ein was busy making the final preparations for the Chaos machine. "Are you sure this is safe?" Evice asked, glancing with disdain at some of the sharp attachments on the machine. His eyes were still drawn towards the purple liquid.

"You told me that you would not get to try this on anyone else," Ein answered. "I can't be sure that it is safe until we do this test. You said Cipher was all about experiments, well you are the test subject."

"I wasn't exactly intending to become a subject."

"Well, you should have thought about that before you told me not to use other test subjects."

Evice shifted slightly. Ein ignored him and examined a computer that was attached to the Chaos machine. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "We are at full power and ready to go." He pressed a few keys on the computer and the machine buzzed to life.

A pole with a hand-shaped end slid partially out of the top of the machine. Ein pulled the God Catalyst out of his pocket and placed it in the hand. The pole turned a purple colour, matching the catalyst.

Ein turned back to the screen. "Aaand begin!" He dramatically lowered his finger slowly until it hit the enter key. The syringe swiveled around so that the needle faced Evice's heart. "I warn you, this will hurt."

"I can take it," Evice replied feebly.

Shrugging, Ein watched with a grin as the syringe containing the emotional raiser plunged into Evice's chest. For a few moments, he watched with anticipation. Then, Evice began to struggle, letting out a cry of pain.

"EIN!" he howled. "You said this would prevent the heart attacks!"

Ein stroked his chin, a smile fixed to his face. "Oh, you're not suffering a heart attack. You're being poisoned."

Evice's eyes widened. "Poisoned! Why, Ein!? I offered you an opportunity of a lifetime!"

"Why, Evice?" Ein said slowly. "You were becoming a liability. Your money was running out. And let's not forget your mental disposition. The advisers were concerned about your latest schemes and decided it was time to rid themselves of you, once and for all. And we even got a way to successfully create better shadow humans."

"I can't believe you Ein!" Evice's features crumpled in a mixture of pain and anger. "I'll kill you!"

"From the grave?" Ein replied. "If science has proved anything, it's that there is no life after death. How can you kill me when you're long gone." Evice had no response. The pain increased. "Of course, I wouldn't want you to just die of the poison." He turned to his computer and selected a number of things. Then he pressed enter again.

The blades around Evice buzzed to life. Behind him, more blades popped out of the cylindrical indent. "Goodbye, Evice," Ein said, his grin becoming wider. Evice howled in terrible pain as the blades ripped his clothes and skin to pieces.

A screech louder than Evice's reverberated from outside. Ein ran to the window facing the colosseum to see XD200 burn itself in it's purple fires. "What the HELL?!" However, Ein had no time to dwell on this new twist.

A snap sounded from the Chaos Machine. Ein turned to see Evice's bonds had snapped. Evice was nothing more than a skeleton with some skin hanging off in places. His organs were exposed, however, they seemed to be immune to the blades, which were snapping when they struck him. Ein glanced up at the catalyst to see it was empty. "Oh shit!"

Ein knew he had to run. He dashed across the room as a purple and grey layer of solid shadow aura formed over Evice's body. He managed to make his way onto his ship when an explosion destroyed the Chaos Machine and half of the wall. The empty God Catalyst rolled away underneath a desk.

Evice stood in the window, watching as Ein flew his ship towards the colosseum. He was about to unleash a shadow hyper beam from his hands when someone burst into the room.

* * *

Lovrina found herself thoroughly confused. Parts of her clothing were torn where Entei and Raikou had attacked her. She could feel large wounds and broken bones. Blood trickled from her savaged right arm which was in constant agony and hanging on by a few threads of flesh. However, now the two legendary dogs were standing back from her. They were howling in pain. Lovrina knew she was screaming in agony herself, yet she had lost all sense of hearing. There was only pain.

Michael and Marcia had left her alone with the two beasts a few minutes ago. Raikou had chosen to tear at her right arm whilst Entei attacked her every time she moved. Which she invariably did when Raikou bit down, sending jolts of electricity down her arm. Ein had designed them to co-ordinate. Lovrina had almost felt pleased that they had worked. But now they were doing something strange.

That was when a huge explosion of purple light cast ominous shadows around the room. Raikou and Entei fell silent, turning their heads towards the colosseum. Suddenly, they sprinted out of the door and disappeared.

The pain was now blinding Lovrina. She had already been deafened, but now her sight was going too. She was vaguely aware of a mechanical claw grabbing her before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Suicune had stopped reacting now. No matter what Slash and her crew did, nothing seemed to affect the shadowy dog. It just seemed to partake in one long, continuous, pain-filled howl. "For Arceus' sake, shut that thing up!" Slash yelled over the din.

However, it wasn't until the big, purple explosion, that Suicune shut up. It smashed right through the barricade on the door with one shadow rush and ran down the stairs. "Come back here!" Slash yelled, running after it.

* * *

Marcia and Michael had watched the purple light-show with a sense of awe. Once the glowing ceased and Ho-oh's carcass had fallen to the ground, they noticed Wes and Rui lying on the ground nearby Ho-oh.

Before they could run over to help, Raikou and Entei shot out of the colosseum doors and rushed to Ho-oh's body. Suicune appeared no more than a minute later. The three of them formed a triangle around the dead legendary bird. Simultaneously, they began to howl again.

All of a sudden, a green glow emanated from the blackened carcass. The light reached out and engulfed each of the legendary dogs. Their purple coats seemed to disintegrate and were replaced by their natural coats.

Just as it appeared, the light disappeared again. The dogs stopped howling and settled on the ground. Marcia knew she had just witnessed a purification, but she did not know what caused it.

Then she saw Ho-oh's eyes open.

* * *

The battle tower control room was a wreck. Paper that had been on desks was now fluttering about the room and flying out of the large hole where the chaos machine had once stood. Computer monitors had been smashed and tables overturned.

In the centre of the room, however, stood the worst thing. What was once Evice was now a short purple humanoid with very little detail. Growlithe had no reason to close his eyes. He could feel the pure shadow and it made him sick. _We're too late._

Apparently, Selena did not have a much better opinion. A look of disgust formed on her face. She shivered as a gust of wind blew by.

"What do you think, Selena?" Evice said in a deep, rumbling voice. "I am now the true divine being. Man and God are once and for all-" He stopped when his blood-red eyes turned to Growlithe. "Really? You couldn't defeat this foolish mutt?"

That was when Selena remembered why she was there. Her look of disgust turned into one of fury. "She's alive!" she screamed. "If you leave she'll die!" Then she quietened. "Kill yourself Evice. You are the real monster."

"Monster!? I am perfection!" Evice gazed intently at Selena. "The true monster is humanity. You have caused chaos since your birth. Who cares about your bloody daughter anyway? She was nothing. A useless, selfish, cowardly little girl who couldn't do anything right."

That was all it took. Selena charged at Evice, but he simply put up a hand and she froze on the spot. "Let's not do that. I have a dog to hunt." He fired a huge purple hyper beam that narrowly missed Growlithe and hit the back wall, disintegrating it. A peon who was guarding the room from the outside cursed.

"Let's get out of here," he shouted to his comrades. Growlithe heard the sound of footsteps as his hid behind an overturned desk. He dashed towards another overturned desk as the first one exploded, sending splinters everywhere.

"You can't hide from me, Growlithe," Evice said softly. Growlithe rolled out of the way as a series of hyper beams split the desk into shards.

Growlithe knew he had no way of beating Evice. He heard the heavy footsteps stomp towards the desk and closed his eyes. As he returned to the familiar blackness, he could feel the purple aura so intensely that he almost missed the smaller purple aura.

It was under a desk that was not overturned and seemed to be only a small trace. Despite that, the colour was almost as vivid as Evice's. It appeared to hang around in a spherical-shape.

Eyes closed, Growlithe made a mad dash for it. The desk was backed up against a wall and had wooden barricades on either side of the legs. The only opening was parallel to the wall. The desk Growlithe had been hiding behind exploded and Evice emerged.

Growlithe snatched up the sphere with his mouth. He was surprised to find it did not make him feel sick like most shadow aura. However, he was now trapped in the corner between one of the wooden barricades and the wall. Evice stood over, his hand glowing with visible purple aura. "You were a worthy adversary, Growlithe," he said. "Actually, you weren't. My troops were just incompetent." Then he fired.

He had not anticipated just how fast the hyper beam would be. He felt searing pain as half of his tail disintegrated, but he managed to get out of the way. The wall shattered along with one of the legs of the desk which caused the desk to tip over, allowing Growlithe to run underneath another set of desks.

This time, there was no rest. Growlithe kept running whilst behind him, the desks were blown into pieces. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" Evice screamed.

Growlithe then realised he was in open space. Looking around, there was no cover he could reach. The last desk exploded and Evice was standing over him. He aimed his hand and fired.

However, the shot went awry. Growlithe saw that Selena had knocked him over. Then he felt something with his tongue. There was a part of the sphere that stuck out slightly. Growlithe continued to feel it with his tongue and realised that it surrounded the ball at the very centre, all the way around. Then he felt a part where the protrusion turned into a circle rather than a line.

He now remembered something. An object like this. In the hands of a kindly boy. Thrown by a mean boy. On the belt of the majority of the population of the world. _A pokeball!_

Evice's voice broke his thoughts. He was now stood over Selena. "Before you die, I want you to know that I will go after your daughter. I will cause her immeasurable pain. You should have stayed on my side. Instead, you threw your lot in with a Growlithe that has no hope of beating me. You died for nothing."

Selena began to scream. Growlithe could sense the purple aura trailing from Evice and engulfing her. "This is only a portion of what your daughter will feel." Blood started pouring from her orifices and her screaming intensified.

Not really knowing what he was doing, Growlithe spat the ball from his mouth. It flew straight into Evice's face. He turned to see the ball hover in front of his eyes. "What the-" was all he could say before he toppled over and fell silent.

Growlithe closed his eyes and saw two purple auras enter the space he knew the ball occupied. Then, something strange happened. There was a shattering sound and one of the auras started turning white. Growlithe thought he could almost hear screams. The other aura floated away, quickly disappearing. He did not know it, but Growlithe was fairly sure Evice was dead. Somehow.

He opened his eyes and saw the ball had shattered. Beyond it, however, lay Selena, in a pool of blood. Growlithe ran over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Selena looked at him with relief. "It is done," she croaked. "Please, release Stephanie."

"She was never in our possession," Growlithe replied, feeling bad for the lie he told earlier. He saw Selena's face fall, so he added; "but I know she's still alive. Somewhere."

Selena tried to smile. "Thank you, Growlithe. If you ever see her again, please look after her."

"Won't you do that yourself?" Growlithe asked.

"Look at me Growlithe," she said. "Do I really look like I'll survive."

"But you can't die!" Growlithe cried. "You've just redeemed yourself."

Selena seemed to chuckled slightly, but it turned into a cough. "You've been through so much, yet you still seem to retain a child-like innocence. Maybe it's for the best, though. I tried to bring up Stephanie, but I did a terrible job. Now, maybe she'll have a chance at life."

Growlithe remained silent. He was on the verge of tears for someone he had hated until a few moments ago. "If you could, give my pokemon a good home." She gestured to the pokeballs on her belt. "Make sure to purify any shadow pokemon that I have. And finally, defeat Cipher, at all costs."

She coughed again and more blood came out. "I just wish I could have seen Stephanie once more." Then she fell still. Growlithe wiped away the tears. He had won. He had won, then why was he so sad?

* * *

**AN: I hope this chapter wasn't too short for you. Thanks for sticking around so far. Just one more chapter to go...of this book.**


	24. Rise

**AN: Wow. I can't believe it's over (although admittedly, this probably isn't even a third of the way done). Sorry for the short chapter unless you like short chapters, in which case, enjoy!**

Gonzap slept. His body was slumped in his swivel chair and his feet were up on his wooden desk, which was falling apart. Next to him, his Skarmory perched on a metal pole hanging from the ceiling. He was content. After saving Orre from Cipher once again, people had lined up to join team Snagem and the nurse at Phenac pokemon centre said that Wes would survive. Gonzap did not feel guilty for any of the deaths of his former grunts. They were killed by Cipher.

A crash erupted from the floor below causing Gonzap to almost fall off his chair. The only thing which saved him was was grabbing hold of Skarmory's perch. The poor bird lost it's balance and fell off, flapping it's wings just before it hit the floor. The crash that was caused by the iron bird was almost as loud as the one that caused Gonzap to fall in the first place.

Gonzap sat straight in his chair and Skarmory rose so he could glare at...absolutely nobody. The two looked at each other, confused. Then Wakin ran up the stairs, into the office. "Sir," he said looking startled, "you might want to look out of the window."

Gonzap rose and ran to the window. A pick-up truck was speeding through the canyon. He frowned when he saw the snag machines that they had stolen in the back. He could just make out the hair-style of the driver. It was unmistakable.

"MIROR B!" Gonzap screamed with fury as Miror b, Trudly and Folly sped out of Elco canyon, chuckling.

* * *

Wes was aware of a dull throb when he awoke. With his eyes closed, Wes could feel two bodies curled up on his legs. He opened his eyes to see he was in a pokemon centre room. There was a very basic chair in one corner and the walls were white. He was in a metal bed with a lumpy mattress. Espeon and Umbreon were staring at him from his legs. "Morning Espeon and Umbreon," he muttered. Then he became fully aware of their stares. "What are you looking at?" They looked at his left arm.

Turning, Wes finally noticed what they were staring at. His left arm was completely gone, leaving a short stump connected to the shoulder.

His scream brought the pokemon centre nurse in. Rather than being concerned, she looked at him casually and said, "Good. You're awake."

"B-b-but, it's gone!" Wes burbled, still staring at it.

"Yeah, it was badly burnt. There was nothing I could do about it. Surprisingly, being burnt by an evil Ho-oh isn't the strangest story I've heard in this place."

"But, how will I live with only one arm? I need both!"

The nurse pulled out a piece of paper. Wes grabbed it with his right hand and read it. On it was a picture of a creepy looking manor with a Groudon statue at the front. Next to it was a pair of glasses with swirls on them for some reason. It read; _"Dr Kaminko. The greatest inventor there ever was and ever shall be. Ever. Look for the haunted mansion near Orre's only river. Somewhere between Pyrite and Agate. Maybe near Gateon port as well. Kaminko will make any incredible invention you desire. But only if it is incredible. Chobin thinks this is excellent."_

Wes re-read the paper carefully. "Err, why this?"

"Kamino is the only man in Orre mad enough yet still intelligent enough to make you a robotic arm. Don't blame me if it has a massive design flaw though."

"Err, thanks?"

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I believe there are some people who wish to see you." She left the room and two figures walked it. Michael and Marcia.

"How are you feeling?" Marcia asked.

"Well, I'm down one arm, so you could say I'm a lot less handy," Wes said, getting his humour back. He chuckled, but the other two remained quiet. Then he realised someone was missing. "Hey, where's Rui?"

"Err," Marcia stuttered.

"She's okay right? She didn't get too badly injured, right?"

"Well, the thing is..." Michael trailed off.

"We're sorry, Wes," Marcia said, solemnly, "Rui is dead."

Then everything crashed in Wes' mind. He was back in Realgam. Rui stood over him with a hole in her stomach, blood pouring out. He could see her aura leaving her. Ho-oh burning itself. Rui collapsing. The solemn look in her eyes was the last thing Wes saw.

* * *

The remaining members of the Resistance stood atop a hill overlooking Pyrite. Keldeo's large band of pokemon mixed among the remaining twenty or so pokemon belonging to the Resistance. Boulder, Crystal, Wintarn, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo stood facing the pokemon.

"My fellow pokemon," Boulder began, "our homes have been destroyed. Our friends have died. But we have survived. We must move on. Cipher are still alive. We cannot take them on alone though, so we shall seek aid, far north at the Basalt City. You may join us if you wish."

"My warriors," Keldeo said with a surprising air of authority for a pokemon so small, "Terrakion, Virizion and I shall stay in Orre. We will be searching for Cobalion as well as Cipher's HQ. Anyone who wishes to help shall be welcome and I recommend that if so, you organise yourselves into search parties."

"What about Evice?" someone piped up.

"Evice is dead," Crystal said. "As far as I am aware, Growlithe managed to kill him."

A cheer erupted from the crowd. As it died down, another pokemon spoke. "What happened to Jirachi?"

Wintarn and Boulder glanced at each other as if to say; 'What can we say?' However, it was Keldeo who spoke. "Whatever happened to Jirachi does not matter any more. We do not know where she is, so we should not trouble ourselves with her for now. We have much more pressing issues."

"Let us not forget, she was protected by Donovan," Wintarn added.

"Wasn't our original purpose to revive Arceus and beat Mew? What happened to that?" A Manetric in the front row asked.

Crystal fielded the question. "Growlithe will revive Arceus as intended. He no longer has our help. We can only pray for his safety. As for Mew, Cipher is a much greater threat. We must focus on them."

"Any more questions?" Keldeo asked. When nobody spoke, he said, "Then take your pick of what you want to do. If you would prefer it, you may choose to disband." The groups formed. About five of the Resistance members decided to leave. The rest gathered with Wintarn, Boulder and Crystal. A number of Keldeo's troops joined them. The rest separated into groups of between five and ten.

"Resistance!" Boulder shouted to the now approximately fifty pokemon. "Northward march!" And so, the Resistance began their long journey north.

* * *

"You realise this will seriously lower my cuteness rating," Lovrina complained. She was tied to a metal table whilst mechanical arms performed a variety of tasks around her right-hand side.

Ein stood over her, glancing at a computer-screen every so often to make sure everything was running smoothly. "Why should you care about cuteness? You still have me. And anyway, some guys happen to think robotic arms are cute."

Lovrina rolled her eyes. "If you like robotic arms so much, why don't you build a robotic girl?"

"Because it wouldn't be half as good as you."

"You know, you still haven't made up for it. It was your creations that did this to me."

"You should count yourself lucky that all that electricity didn't damage your brain. It could do that you know."

"Tell that to the writers of the pokemon anime." She flinched as another piece of metal was welded to her flesh. Turning away, she noticed something strange on Ein's belt."What's with the seventh pokeball? You normally carry six."

Ein picked up the purple-topped pokeball with a sense of pride. "This, Lovrina, is the first corrupted aura guardian."

He pressed the button on the pokeball. Lovrina gasped in awe, becoming unaware of the machines working on her arm. A Lucario stood in their midst, covered in solidified shadow aura, making it purple and grey. "What do you think?" Ein asked.

"It's amazing. Is it a new present for me since I 'lost' the last one?"

"Not this one," Ein replied, returning the Lucario, "I'm sending this one to our 'agent' in Johto."

* * *

The desert stretched out in front of Growlithe, just as it had done the first time when he had arrived in Orre, by ship, courtesy of a cloaked figure who refused to give a name. Growlithe knew he would now have to make the exact return journey. Luckily, he had friends to help.

"Yer sure 'bout this cap'n?" Billy asked. "We already battled Suicune fer this guy. Why do we have t' help him again?"

Slash turned and frowned at him. "Billy, have you lost all your manners since you were caught by that phony? This Growlithe is certainly more important than he looks. And anyway, we haven't been over to Johto for ages. We should check it out to see if there's anything worth raiding."

Billy muttered something under his breath. "What was that?" Slash asked sharply.

"Nothing," Billy replied, moodily stomping away.

"What's his problem?" Richmond asked.

"For all his tough look, he can be incredibly childish sometimes," Slash answered, watching Billy. "He wanted to go raiding around Orre."

"What sort of treasure does he expect to find here?"

"He likes deserts."

"I can understand that." Richmond turned to Growlithe. "You ready to go?" Growlithe remained silent, staring into the distance. "Hey, I said; 'Are you ready to go?'"

"Hmm," Growlithe answered, his thoughts broken. "This isn't over, is it?"

"Sorry, Growlithe, but this won't be over for a long time. Cipher are still strong. We might have derailed them briefly, but they will be back. And we still need to find Arceus' body AND soul since the God catalyst shattered."

"Viridian forest is your goal," the Shade said, joining them alongside Fungin. A few small scars were the only indication that she had ever had a battle with Shedinja. "There, you will meet an agent of the Resistance in Johto. He will explain the rest."

"The Resistance in Johto?" Growlithe mused. "Do you think it will be my father?"

"If that Arcanine has any sense..." the Shade replied. Then she decided not to elaborated. "Anyway, you should be moving soon. It is a long journey.

"Tell me, Shade," Growlithe said, "Will my journey end soon? Will it ever end? Will I even survive it?"

"These are questions that can't be answered, Growlithe. The thing is, we know our enemies. However, we don't know how strong they will become. This is only the rise of shadows."

Growlithe fell silent. "So, what will you two do now?" Richmond queried.

"We shall head to the place that the Resistance will undoubtedly head after a battle like Cipher have given them. The Basalt Citadel."

Frowning, Growlithe asked; "The Basalt Citadel?"

"It is a great city far north of Orre," Fungin answered. "It was constructed out of a huge lump of basalt—hence the name—and is a city entirely populated with pokemon."

"I'd like to go there once this adventure is over," Growlithe commented.

"You may end up there whilst on your journey, Growlithe," the Shade said. "Anyway, we should be setting off. We don't want to get there and find out that Cipher has taken over the world."

They said their goodbyes and the Shade and Fungin made their way north, soon disappearing on the horizon beyond Phenac city.

Marcia, Wes and Michael stood by their bikes. "I hope you can drive one of these things, Michael," Marcia said, patting Wes' bike. Noticing Growlithe and Richmond stepping forward, she looked up. "Are you off then?"

"Should be soon," Richmond replied through Lombre, who waited nearby, "Slash says we should be able to get a lift if their ship is still where they left it."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Growlithe asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," Marcia answered. "A crew of pokemon probably wouldn't welcome us too much. We spent enough time in The Under. Besides, Orre needs someone to be a hero."

"We'll make sure Cipher's plans are ruined as much as possible," Michael said, "until you get back with Arceus to put an end to them once and for all."

"Bye, I guess," Wes said in a mopey tone, trying to climb into the side-car of his bike one handed. Michael was forced to help him.

"Good-bye Growlithe," Skuntank said, "and thanks again for the jolly good purification." Steelix nodded at Growlithe and made what probably constituted for a smile.

"I hope you are now a bit more used to flying," Tropius said, "or at least won't find it so nauseating."

"As long as I'm more focused on the task at hand, I'm fine," Growlithe replied.

"It was great to meet you," Lombre said, "but it will be even better to see you again later."

Salamence stared at him. "I would complain, saying; 'you have the better adventure', but I get to kill some Cipher peons AND visit some crazy scientist's house. I think it goes without saying; I'll miss you." She turned away, but then turned back suddenly. "Oh, and don't die or I swear I will hunt down your soul just like you will with Arceus'."

"Don't worry, I'll survive," Growlithe said with little confidence. "Good-bye. I'll miss you too."

"Remember, Growlithe," Marcia said, "there will always be a place for you alongside me. Even if you find somewhere else to call your home, please visit us again. I will be waiting."

"I will, Marcia," Growlithe replied, almost in tears. He wiped his eyes and turned away. Richmond joined him and they walked back over to Captain Slash and her band of pirates. Engines roared as the three humans returned their pokemon and drove off on their bikes. Saying 'good-bye' was the easy part. The hard part was still to come.

* * *

Jirachi awoke in the mass of Donovan's feathers. She could feel something sticky. _I must have been sweating. _The room was pitch black. Her sleep had been unperturbed. No crazy voices. She felt as though her nightmare was a million miles away. That was when she realised she was floating.

_I'm floating? I'M FLOATING!_ "Take that, Giratina!" she exclaimed aloud. "Your curse has ended." She thought back to the punch she gave the Shade the day before. _Or was it the day before that?_ All concept of time seemed to have disappeared for her.

She quickly became aware of a rather putrid smell. "Donovan, let's get out of here." There was no reply, so she moved in closer and shouted; "Wakey, wakey, Donovan!" There was still no response so she closed her eyes to view his aura.

She froze, not believing what she had just seen. Frantically she tried to use a technique she knew before she was cursed to confirm it. There was a blinding flash and the entire room became light.

Below her, Donovan lay, motionless, covered in his own blood. Above, Jirachi was also covered in his blood. _You are mine. You are mine. YOU ARE MINE!_

_**AN: Part two, 'Cry of the Legends' will probably be delayed for a while whilst I fully plan it and work on some other projects. Thanks to those of you who have read and enjoyed this so far. I hope to see you for part two.**_


End file.
